Unspeakable
by Queen of Alexandria
Summary: Twenty-eight-year-old Hermione Granger's life has fallen apart. An old injury prevents her from being useful in the war against Voldemort until she becomes an Unspeakable. When someone from her past reappears, can he help her mend her broken life?
1. The Offer

A/N: All HP canon characters, locales, and objects belong to JK Rowling. I am not making any money for writing this story. I, Queen of Alexandria, am writing this fan fiction for fun only.

_Italics_ represent thoughts. represents the beginning of a new scene.

Unspeakable Chapter 1: The Offer 

In the dead of night, the typically quiet countryside was engulfed in pandemonium. Hermione Granger, now and auror, stood amongst a myriad of friends and enemies. It had been a very trying battle for both sides, but fortunately, the aurors and the Ministry of Magic had emerged triumphant. The incident had led to the capture of two known Death Eaters, Nott and Avery.

In the middle of the chaotic scene, lay a large, three-story house that was once a great work of architecture. It was now desecrated; the garishly bright flames tore it to the ground as they rose higher and higher. The air smelled heavily of smoke and was stiflingly hot.

Hermione observed a squad of Ministry workers using magic to attempt to control the blaze. Now that their work was done, many of her colleagues in the Auror Division had begun to disapparate from the ghastly scene. However, she did not trust her ability to disapparate because she had lost her concentration. The smoke was making Hermione dizzy, and she had begun to cough violently.

In order to regain her bearings, she walked to the edge of the large clearing into the shelter of a forest. Bracing herself against the trunk of an oak tree, Hermione waited for her body to cease to feel the effects of the smoke.

After a few moments, she felt well enough to make her way back to the checkpoint to meet her supervisor. Before leaving, all aurors had to report to a specified location in order to prove that they had survived and to receive medical attention if necessary.

Hermione had taken only a few steps when she spotted a heap lying on the ground a short distance ahead. As she approached, she identified the heap as a person. The man was badly injured; burns and dark curses had almost taken his life. When he noticed her, he tried to speak. "The children…Elizabeth…still in the house…save them," he rasped in a pleading, desperate tone.

After only a moment of thought, she concluded that the man was Orion Kent, the owner of the destroyed home. His wife and two sons had been rescued from the burning building by the Ministry's fire department. They had presumed that the three were the only victims of the attack and the blaze that had immediately followed it. There was now yet another apparent victim.

"Elizabeth and the children have been rescued. They're safe now. Your wife and both of your sons are going to be alright," Hermione whispered soothingly as she used her wand to shoot a burst of brilliant red sparks into the night sky.

"My youngest child…Sabrina…is she alright?" Kent questioned. It seemed to take an eternity for him to speak the words in his weakened state.

Hermione was shockingly surprised at the mention of another child. In horror, she realized that not all of the victims had been taken from the inferno. She promptly ran towards the center clearing and was shocked to discover that the fire had finally been put out. She continued to run in hopes of finding someone who could be of help. Unfortunately, all of the Ministry workers had already disapparated; Hermione was now alone.

_Stay calm. Think of something._ She realized that Sabrina's life was in her hands. There was no time to get help, and she had only one option. Hermione sincerely hoped that the child was in the east wing of the spacious house because the west wing had burned to the ground, leaving only a smoldering pile of ash, whereas, the east wing was still slightly more in tact in certain places.

She pointed her wand at the house and said, "Comperio Sabrina." A thin beam of orange light now led from the tip of her wand to the east wing. She ran across the charred lawn in the direction the light pointed and cautiously entered the house through a doorway that looked as if it could collapse at any second.

A large and once elegant entrance hall lay before her. The orange beam of light pointed to a set of heavy mahogany doors with brass trim at the opposite end of the hall. Hermione was relieved when she noticed that they looked relatively untouched by flame in comparison to the other parts of the building. She hastened to the doors, grasped the handle of one, and pulled it open.

The vast sitting room appeared to be empty, but she knew that Sabrina was hidden inside of it. The light now pointed to a cupboard in the far corner of the room. Hermione ran to it and hesitated for only a moment before opening it.

A small girl with blonde, braided hair and a tearstained face looked up at her with a frightened expression and began to cry again. _The poor child must have witnessed the entire attack through the thin crack between the cupboard doors. She thinks I'm a Death Eater._

"I'm not going to hurt you. I've come to take you to your family. I'm an auror," Hermione explained. Sabrina hesitated, but thought the woman looked kind and honest; she stepped out of her hiding place. Hermione picked the child up and carried her back through the entrance hall and out of the house as quickly as possible. As the young girl was not very heavy, the task was a manageable one.

They left the house and headed to the edge of the forest, where the auror planned to apparate with the child to the St. Mungo's. The healers would tend to the child and make sure she was alright, and Hermione could contact the Ministry of Magic to inform them of the situation. She prepared to apparate but turned when she heard a sound; it sounded like the snap of a fallen tree branch that usually heralded the approach of an attacker who was attempting to be stealthy.

A man wearing long, black robes emerged from the forest with a wand pointed at her. He was sneering, and his countenance had a twisted, malevolent look about it. The man's name was Antonin Dolohov, and he was a notorious Death Eater. "I thought I'd find you here. You should have learned by now that it doesn't pay to be noble. One day, your heroics will cost you your life." He paused for a moment before adding, "That day has come."

Before Hermione could react, Dolohov said an incantation, "Stativus Aeger Consilii." A black beam of magic struck her right leg. Words could not adequately describe the agony that followed; it seemed more painful than even the Cruciatus curse. Her right leg immediately gave way, and she fell to the ground, dropping the child.

Next, he cast the Cruciatus curse. She felt as if she was on fire; a thousand invisible knives seemed to tear at her. Hermione was now writhing and screaming in pain.

"Finite Incantatem." The agony stopped, and she unobtrusively grabbed a fairly smooth stick that lay on the ground near her. Her other hand that now held her wand was concealed by her robes. Luckily, she had always been a quick and brilliant thinker. Hopefully, this deception would allow her to escape with Sabrina, who was now trembling in fear beneath a nearby shrub. Hermione pointed the stick at Dolohov. She knew he would rather unarm her and continue to torture her than kill her immediately. His grudge against her and his hatred for muggleborns such as herself could be exploited as a weakness.

Dolohov took the bait. He yelled "Expelliarmus!" and the stick flew into his hand. He was shocked to discover that he had been duped, but he had no time to react.

"Stupefy!" Hermione yelled, as she aimed her wand at his chest. Her Stunning spell hit Dolohov, and he lost consciousness. She tried to stand, but a sharp, searing pain shot through her right leg, and she fell once again to the ground. Hermione had no time to waste; quickly, she formed a plan of escape. Another branch had fallen from a nearby tree, and she reached for it. Because it was relatively large, the branch could be used as a makeshift cane. Using the cane, Hermione slowly managed to stand and make her way to Sabrina. She put a hand on the child's arm, so Sabrina would travel with her during the apparition and apparated to St. Mungo's.

The two reappeared in front of the reception desk in the hospital's waiting room, and a nurse rushed toward them. Hermione was now leaning heavily on the makeshift cane as the pain in her leg intensified and the room began to spin. The last thing she saw before passing out was the nurse's concerned face as she took Sabrina and frantically called for a healer.

Hermione woke with a start and sat up. She had had the same nightmare again, had been forced to relive her worst memory yet again. Hermione stretched out an arm toward the nightstand and found her wand. "Lumos," she said, and the wand illuminated the darkened room. According to the clock that hung on the opposite wall, it was 5:30 A.M. She realized that she wouldn't be getting any more sleep and with a small sigh, reached for the cane at her bedside. As Hermione stood, she said, "Nox," and the light was extinguished.

She decided to have a cup of tea and made her way to the kitchen. After three years it still felt odd to walk with a cane at times. The curse that Antonin Dolohov had cast that night had rendered her right leg permanently useless, and it still hurt on occasion. Hermione had initially spent three weeks in St. Mungo's as the healers tried to find a counter curse for Stativus Aeger Consilii. Unfortunately, they found nothing, and she had been required to learn to walk with a cane. Since then, Hermione had visited many of the best specialists in England, but no one could find a cure for her.

She had also been forced to resign from the Auror Division at the age of twenty-six. It crushed Hermione to give up her beloved career that she had worked so hard for, but she had had no choice in the matter; her disability prevented her from doing her duty.

Hermione reached the kitchen of her spacious, Victorian-style home and began to make tea. Her house was situated in a small, mostly muggle town just outside of London. She had bought it three years after becoming an auror. The house hadn't originally cost much because it had been in need of numerous repairs, but Hermione had spent a great deal of her considerable salary fixing it up. The house had become beautiful once again, and Hermione was rather proud of her effort.

However, Hermione had experienced financial trouble after her reluctant resignation. She had used her savings to pay the numerous, expensive medical bills that had accumulated after the incident. After Hermione was released from St. Mungo's, she searched for a job for two months without success. There were few jobs available for someone who could scarcely walk, and those few that were had already been filled.

Finally, she found a position at the Hogsmeade library, which had only recently been built at the time. The pay wasn't especially good, but Hermione had no other option.

When the tea was ready, she poured some of it into her favorite mug and added sugar to it. She then proceeded to walk to the living room in hopes of reading for a while. It was now 5:45, and Hermione had two hours before she needed to apparate to work. She frowned at the clunking noise the cane made when it came into contact with the hardwood floors. She hated the cane and the noise that it made. However, her inability to use her right leg was what Hermione hated most.

_I'm in for another day at the library._Ironically, working with books was unsatisfactory for her. Hermione sorely missed being an auror; she felt useless and idle in the war against Voldemort. She, Harry, and Ron had been three of the best aurors in the Division, and her work had become her life, but now Hermione could contribute very little to the war effort.

Although she was no longer an auror, Hermione was still a member of the Order of the Phoenix. She was a strategist and formed many valuable plans for the Order, but she couldn't take part in any more missions. Hermione had to sit by and watch as her friends risked their lives and as many were injured or killed. She understood exactly how Sirius had felt during her fifth year.

The war had taken many lives; Hermione knew quite a few of those whose lives had been taken. Neville Longbottom had become a herbologist and a member of the Order after graduation. He had married Luna Lovegood, who had inherited the responsibility of publishing The Quibbler from her father. Bellatrix Lestrange had killed both he and Luna when a mission had gone awry. Alastor Moody had died in battle three months later, and Charlie Weasley had been taken prisoner and killed after the same battle that had cost Moody his life.

Draco Malfoy and Ginny Weasley had fallen in love during Ginny's seventh year, and Draco had become an auror and a member of the Order. The two had gotten married two years after Ginny graduated. It had been interesting to watch Draco and Ron become accustomed to being brothers-in-law, but they eventually buried the hatchet. They still insulted each other, but the rude comments were exchanged in a humorous tone. Two years ago, Draco had disappeared. He had been declared missing in action, and no one knew whether he was dead or alive. Ginny had given birth to the couple's only child a month after Draco' s disappearance. Although Ginny had never lost hope that her husband would return, it was doubtful that Jasmine Malfoy would ever see her father.

At 7:45, Hermione apparated to the library. She reappeared in front of the enormous brick building that was located next to the Three Broomsticks, took her keys from her purse, and unlocked the door. She lit the candles that sat on the librarians' desk and on the small study tables arranged throughout the high-ceilinged chamber. At 8:00, the library was open to the public.

Hermione had been at work for only four hours, and she was already incredibly bored. Very few people had come, and she had already finished an entire novel. Hermione began to peruse a copy of the Daily Prophet that Marcie, another librarian, had left on the desk. The Prophet had changed drastically since its fall from grace during Cornelius Fudge's term as Minister of Magic. The newspaper once again provided factual, reliable journalism to the wizarding world. Fortunately, there were no more attacks or casualties of war to report. The only articles that could be considered high profile were the report on the recent Quidditch match between the Chudley Cannons and the Ballycastle Bats and the piece on the death of Orpheus McAllister, an Unspeakable in the Department of Mysteries.

Twenty minutes later, Marcie arrived. "Good morning, Hermione," she greeted.

"Good morning," Hermione replied.

"Has it been busy today?"

" No, the building has been practically deserted today. I put all of the returned books back on the shelves when I came in, and the new periodicals haven't come in yet. All we should have to do is watch the front."

"I can manage by myself if you want to go to lunch now."

"Alright. I'll be back in half an hour." With this said, Hermione left for the Three Broomsticks.

When Hermione returned, Marcie was sitting behind the desk in one of the comfortable chairs reading the latest issue of Witch Weekly. Upon seeing her Marcie turned and said, "There's someone waiting to see you in the office."

As she made her way to the small office that the librarians shared, Hermione wondered about the identity of the person who needed to talk to her. She doubted it was Harry or Ron. They had been so busy with work that they did not get the chance to talk to her very often anymore. When they did talk to her, arguments generally broke out. A rift had come between Hermione and the two because when she insisted that she could help with the latest mission of the Order or the Auror Division they became overprotective. Harry and Ron had treated her differently since her injury; they seemed to think she was incapable of taking care of herself, and even insisted that she should leave the Order. She knew they did such things because they cared for her and wanted to keep her out of danger, but they simply didn't understand that she couldn't live like this for the rest of her life.

Maybe Ginny had decided to bring Jasmine to visit "Aunt Mione" as she was called. Jasmine looked up to Hermione, and spending time with the child always cheered Hermione up. She had also entertained the idea that Remus was her visitor. He had become one of her closest friends since the incident because he understood how she felt. Because he was a werewolf, it had often been difficult for Remus to find a job. Some had treated him cruelly, while others had regarded him as weak, but he had remained strong. This was why Hermione and many others now respected him. Remus had realized that pity was not what she needed, and he had encouraged her to continue work with the Order as a strategist. She greatly appreciated his friendship.

Hermione was surprised to find that her visitor was Kingsley Shacklebolt. Shortly after she had become an auror, Cornelius Fudge had been impeached and thrown out of office. Shacklebolt had been an unlikely candidate in the struggle for the prestigious office, but wizarding England had been impressed by his honesty and his willingness to help them, and he had gotten the job.

"Hello, Ms. Granger. I've come because I have an offer for you. How would you like to work for the Ministry?"

Hermione was shocked but pleased at the offer. "What department would I be working in?" she inquired.

"The Department of Mysteries," he replied.

Hermione looked startled at this revelation.

"I know that you have memories of the Department of Mysteries. We all do." He was referring to the night that Sirius had died. Although she and Ron weren't there when Bellatrix had slain him, Harry had eventually told them what happened. The three had lost a close friend that night.

The Minister continued with his offer, "As you have probably heard, our best Unspeakable, Orpheus McAllister died Saturday. During this war we need all the ingenuity we can get, therefore, his replacement must be someone with an excellent mind and a good work ethic. I immediately considered you for the position. The job doesn't involve any missions like the Auror Division requires, so you should have no difficulties there. As an Unspeakable, your work will be kept strictly confidential. You will work on new innovations, examine unknown magical objects, do difficult research that few others can manage, and investigate the latest important cases that arise in the war." He paused and then added with a small smile, "The pay is also very good."

Hermione was now seriously considering his offer. _It would be a way to make myself useful again. I could save lives. I could be part of the war effort again. The extra money couldn't hurt either._

"I," she hesitated but then continued, "I accept your offer."

"Excellent. Report to the Department of Mysteries at 8:30 tomorrow morning."

Thank you for reading my story. Please review!


	2. Unspeakable

A/N: All HP canon characters, locales, and objects belong to JK Rowling. I am not making any money for writing this story. I, Queen of Alexandria, am writing this fan fiction for fun only.

_Italics_ represent thoughts. Replies to reviews are located at the end of the chapter. I am planning to write the return of a certain character that you have all been waiting for in the next chapter, so stay with me.

Unspeakable Chapter Two: Unspeakable 

Hermione was dressed to impress as she made her way to the visitor's entrance of the Ministry of Magic the next morning. Her black, knee-length skirt, white sweater, and low-heeled sandals made her a rather conspicuous figure in the narrow, dingy London side street filled with buildings that had obviously seen better days.

The previous evening, she had turned in her resignation at the library after doing some research on the Department of Mysteries. Of course, considering her topic, Hermione had found only minimal information. The Department had formerly worked only with the discovery, containment, and examination of the most rare and dangerous forms of magic in existence. However, since the war had begun a decade ago, its jurisdiction had expanded drastically. Unspeakables now did research regarding the war, developed new weapons to aid in the fight against Voldemort, and occasionally worked in conjunction with the Auror Division and hit wizards from the Magical Law Enforcement Squad. As Kingsley had promised, though, the Department's job was done strictly from the office and involved no actual missions.

Hermione approached the battered telephone box that served as a façade for the Ministry's entrance, opened the door, and went inside. The box was very small and in even worse shape than she had remembered it to be in. Hermione picked up the receiver, held it to her ear, and dialed 62442.

"Hello. Please state your name and business with the Ministry," a voice that sounded almost identical to that of a muggle telephone operator said.

"My name is Hermione Granger. I have come for my first day of work in the Department of Mysteries," Hermione replied.

The telephone box slowly descended into the ground until it reached the Atrium of the Ministry's extravagant building. The box then stopped with a slight jerk, and a badge was deposited in the slot of the old-fashioned pay telephone. The badge read _Hermione Granger, Department of Mysteries_. The voice informed her that she would be subject to a security check in which she would have to present her wand and wished her a pleasant day as she pinned the badge to her sweater and exited the box.

Hermione entered the crowded Atrium and proceeded to the security desk at the far end. The large crowd of Ministry workers drowned out the noise of her cane as she slowly walked across the room. Upon reaching the security desk, Hermione slipped her wand through the slot in the glass window that separated the security office from the Atrium. After the wand (eleven and a half inches, unicorn hair, cherry) was thoroughly examined, it was given back to Hermione.

She approached the lift and pressed the down button that was located on the wall next to the doors. Within a minute the lift had arrived, and she entered it. There were several aurors, an assistant to the Minister, and an excited teen who hoped to pass the Apparition test already in the lift, and they moved to make room for Hermione.

She pressed the button labeled Level Nine, and waited anxiously as the others exited the lift at their respective floors. Finally, the lift reached the Department of Mysteries, which took up the entirety of Level Nine, and Hermione walked forward as the doors slid open.

She now stood at the beginning of the corridor that had once plagued Harry in his nightmares. Hermione shivered as she recollected the first and only time that she had seen the Department of Mysteries. Apprehensively, she made her way down the corridor toward the old and unimpressive door at the other end.

She pushed open the door and found herself in the circular room with many doors. In the middle of the room was a woman who looked only a few years older than Hermione. The woman looked as though she was of Spanish descent; she had dark brown hair that cascaded down her back in waves, eyes of the same deep brown shade, and a slight tan.

"You must be Hermione Granger. I'm Graciela Garcia, but everyone calls me Grace." Grace's accent was very unique. It was mostly British with a hint of the more flowing tones that added distinction to the voices of most Spaniards. It was likely that she had been raised in England by parents who had emigrated from Spain.

"Yes, I'm Hermione. I'm here for my first day as an Unspeakable." Hermione glanced at the many doors before asking, "Which one should I go through?"

"Follow me," Grace replied as she opened the door nearest the two women on the right. This door was unfamiliar to Hermione because she and her friends had not used all of the doors contained within the circular room on that fateful night thirteen years ago.

Beyond the doorway lay a large office filled with many individual cubicles. It seemed different from the rest of the Department; the polished, dark, paneled walls, flagged-stone floor, and bustling crowd of witches and wizards at work gave it a more welcoming atmosphere.

"Harris said he wanted to see you as soon as you arrived. He's the boss around here. He's really nice, though, and I think you'll like him."

Grace led Hermione down another, smaller corridor and into an immaculate office. Sitting behind the desk was a man with close-cropped gray hair who looked as though he was in his fifties. Upon seeing the two women, he stood and shook hands with Hermione. "I'm John Harris, Director of the Department of Mysteries. Welcome to the Department. I've heard a great deal about you and from the Minister of Magic no less. I'm expecting great work from you," he said encouragingly.

"Grace will show you around after we check your background and issue you an ID. I would like to tell you that it won't take long, but unfortunately, it always does," Harris continued.

Hermione was already reminded of a more authoritarian version of Dumbledore. Harris seemed like a pleasant person, but he also seemed like someone who could become strict very quickly if the transition of personalities was necessary.

A moment later, a middle-aged woman with an aristocratic air about her entered the office. She brushed brusquely past Hermione and sat facing the other occupants of the room in a chair at the corner of Harris' desk. She gave no greeting but rudely snapped, "Garcia, if I hear that you've hexed Zabini one more time, you'll be searching for a new job."

"Come now, I'm sure that such drastic measures are not necessary. As I recall, the hex was provoked last time," Harris intervened.

The woman looked very indignant and continued to glower at Grace but remained silent. Hermione had to try very hard to contain her mirth when Grace gave a rather rude gesture out of the lines of vision of the two supervisors. When a small chuckle escaped her, Hermione found herself on the receiving end of the intense glare.

"Allow me to introduce the Assistant Director, Marilyn Adams," Harris said. Hermione extended a hand by way of greeting but quickly withdrew her hand on the pretence of smoothing her skirt, as the snobby Assistant Director's fixed look of disdain did not waver.

Grace chose that moment to exit the office, and Hermione's extensive background check began as soon as the door had closed.

Two hours later, a slightly less enthusiastic Hermione carefully placed her new Department ID in her purse and rose from the chair that had been conjured for her in front of her new boss' desk. Her two supervisors had interrogated her in great detail about her life, ranging from her childhood to the events of the previous day. They were now privileged to information that no one but Hermione had possessed regarding the story of her life. The information was now recorded in the filing section of the headquarters, and Hermione was officially an Unspeakable.

As Hermione turned to leave, the door swung open, and Grace reentered the office. "I'm not interrupting, am I?" she inquired.

"No, you're not, Ms. Garcia. We're finished. If you will, give Ms. Granger a tour of the Department, and show her to her cubicle. Introduce her to some of the other Unspeakables, and be sure to give her the file on her first assignment." Harris paused as the two women lingered in the doorway, listening to his instructions. After a second or two had passed, he continued with a slight smile, "Oh, and Ms. Garcia, please try not to corrupt any more of my trainees."

Grace grinned sheepishly but then replied in a dramatic voice, "If you _insist_," before leading Hermione back into the small corridor outside Harris' office.

The room that contained the cubicle of each Unspeakable was now even more crowded than when Hermione had passed through it the first time. As she followed Grace down the rows, she could not shake the feeling of embarrassment that always accompanied being seen by a very large crowd. The tapping of the cane never failed to announce her presence, and Hermione despised the curiosity or pity that was often evident in the reactions of others at seeing someone so young using a cane to walk.

Halfway down the fifth row, Grace stopped behind a young man working at a desk. She quietly put both hands on the back of his chair and attempted to tip it over. With a yell that caused few people to stare, as they were probably used to such antics by now, the man jumped up from his seat and turned to face her.

"You scared me half to death, Grace," he said. After noticing Hermione, he asked, "Who's your friend?"

"Shane, this is Hermione Granger. She just became an Unspeakable today. Hermione, this is my friend, Shane Alcibiades," Grace said by way of introduction.

"Nice to meet you, Hermione," Shane said with a charming smile.

"Likewise," she replied.

Hermione surmised that Shane and Grace were the Department of Mysteries' equivalent of the Marauders. Although they had a knack for causing trouble, the two friends were popular amongst their coworkers and exceptional Unspeakables.

Shane had the appearance of a cheerful troublemaker. His curly, dark, brown hair was kept long and often fell into his eyes, which contained a mischievous glint. Hermione was glad to have become acquainted with him.

"Well, I must be getting back to work now. I'll see you later," Shane said as he turned back to his desk.

For the next hour, Hermione toured the Department. Many of the rooms were as she remembered them, and many others she was not allowed access to because she did not need to enter them for a specific, case-related purpose. She was not permitted to see any rooms that caught her interest, only offices and research areas.

As she had entered the Department archives, Hermione had heard a series of loud noises and Grace's frustrated exclamation of, "Damn it!" She turned to find her new friend sitting on the floor amidst a pile of fallen books and files. The others in the room had turned to stare at Grace upon hearing the commotion.

Grace hurriedly picked herself up and rushed out of the archives with Hermione in tow, pausing only for a second to glance back at a tall, blonde, and rather attractive wizard who was working at the table from which the numerous books and files had fallen and quickly apologize.

Once they were back in the main office, Grace spoke. "Every time I get within a ten-foot radius of the guy, I make a complete arse of myself."

"You fancy him, then?" Hermione asked with a hint of knowing amusement in her voice.

"Yes, very much," was Grace's reply.

She then proceeded to explain, "His name is Alexander Gable. He became an Unspeakable shortly after I did, and unfortunately for me, I've fancied him since then. He's a bit out of my league, though."

"I think I should show you to your cubicle now," Grace said as she walked toward a small workspace on the far right side of the back row. Hermione followed and was delighted to see a neatly organized desk with a thin file marked confidential resting atop it.

"It's so nice to be working for the Ministry again," she said.

"I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but no one's first assignment is very good. Mine was a load of garbage. Harris had to assign the case to you; no one else wanted it. They say it was what sent old Orpheus round the twist, and I think most fear it. Orpheus McAllister left only one assignment incomplete when he died, and now it's yours," Grace said. Then she added, while pointing to a cubicle three spaces to the left of Hermione's, "If you have any questions, I'll be over there."

Once Hermione was alone, she opened the file. Upon seeing the subject of her assignment, she gasped. _I can't do this. That…that thing…it killed Sirius._ She was supposed to research, examine, and give a full, detailed report of the veil.

It took her a few moments, but Hermione managed to regain her composure. _It'll be fine. This will be over soon, and I can begin a new assignment, a better one, but I have to finish this if I intend to keep my job._ Since she could not bear to lose her position as an Unspeakable so soon, Hermione reluctantly turned the page to read the remainder of the file.

She spent the rest of the workday reviewing the file. It contained only a paper stating that the case was hers and all of the notes that were left behind by Orpheus McAllister. Surprisingly, Orpheus had been the inventor of the veil, but he had left behind no indication of why he had created it or what purpose it served. Not many notes were there either; the file contained only two other pages about the actual construction of the veil.

Hermione decided to take the file home and spend more time working on it that evening. She was now intrigued. The available information was of no immediate help to her, and her persistent curiosity demanded that she discover the true purpose of the veil. Hermione deduced that it probably was not used as a weapon, as that would be a very awkward and even insensible use. The only way to use the veil to bring about the demise of another person was to capture one's enemy and shove the person through the veil. As that would have to be done in close quarters, the plan could easily backfire upon the conspirator; the conspirator also stood a great chance of being shoved through the one-way portal to death in such a situation. Hermione also guessed that someone who was plotting murder would not intend to give the victim such a painless death.

She knew that the task would dredge up unhappy memories that she would rather forget, but there was no other choice available to her. Hermione never admitted defeat; to do so was to announce to the world that one was weak, and Hermione most certainly was not weak.

At 4:30 P.M., she left the Department of Mysteries and entered the lift for the second time that day. The lift was excessively crowded, and despite the fact that it had been magically expanded to hold more people, Hermione had to squeeze into the nearest corner and struggle to reach the button marked Atrium. She became much more comfortable as the lift reached the last few floors; the lift had nearly emptied. At the Atrium, the doors slid open, and Hermione exited.

She crossed to the end nearest the visitor's entrance, and took a right. She winced as the cane's loud tapping noise echoed in the large room. Hermione walked into a wide corridor that was bustling with Ministry workers leaving the building through the front entrance.

Halfway down the hall, she noticed Harry and Ron; apparently, they were leaving work now. At any other time, Hermione would have been overjoyed to see them, but she had had a busy day and was too tired for the argument that would ensue when the two found out about her new job. She tried hiding behind the tall man in front of her and blending into the crowd. Her plan worked nicely until Harry began walking back down the hallway with Ron following him.

When they were mere feet away, they noticed her. "Hey, Hermione," Harry greeted her with a smile.

"It's good to see you again," Ron said.

"Hi. It's good to see you, too," Hermione responded as she hugged Ron and then Harry.

"It's funny seeing you here, though. I thought you'd be working at the library now," Harry commented, checking his watch.

_Oh well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. I was just hoping that it would be later._ _I might as well tell them._ "I got a new job toady. I'm an Unspeakable in the Department of Mysteries," Hermione announced.

She could tell that she had shocked them with her news; Harry looked furious, and Ron was speechless. Approximately a second later, Harry yelled, "That's dangerous! You'll get yourself killed!" He paused, momentarily speechless, before adding in a more subdued tone, "I don't want to lose anyone else I care about. You should resign first thing in the morning."

"I can take care of myself," Hermione retorted. "Just because I was injured three years ago, I can't just lie down and wait to die as Voldemort and the Death Eaters kill everyone I care about. I'm not resigning."

Ron had seemed to regain the ability to speak as he put in, "Hermione, you know you can't go on any more missions. You're doing your part; you're a brilliant strategist. I agree with Harry because it is too dangerous for you."

Hermione was tired of being sheltered, being left out. She missed the days when they were in Hogwarts and the Auror Division because they had all taken risks together, and Harry and Ron had understood that if one cared at all about friends and family risking one's own life was the right thing to do. She lost control.

"So it's too dangerous for me, is it? Life seems too dangerous now, and not just for me, for everyone. If you don't want to be my friends anymore just tell me. The two of you think it's great fun to go on your adventures and play war, but you never even talk to me anymore. I guess I'm just not good enough. If you really cared, you would realize that living like this is killing me, but you don't care," Hermione raged.

She knew as soon as the words had left her mouth that she should have held them back. Her anger had made her irrational, and she had said things that she didn't mean, that she would never mean. Harry and Ron looked stricken; they looked as though she had slapped them, and Hermione felt guilty.

She felt tears welling up behind her eyes, and her vision began to blur slightly. Hermione quickly turned and walked away as fast as she could move with the infernal leg injury providing the same perpetual impediment to her. As soon as she was out of sight, the tears began to fall, and she apparated home.

Hermione collapsed in despair on the couch as the tears continued to course down her face from her now red, puffy eyes. She had fought often with Harry and Ron in the past three years because of their irritating over protectiveness. Since Sirius' death, Harry had been even more willing to risk his own life to avenge his godfather's murder, but he was reluctant to allow his friends to take part in the war for fear of losing them, too. After her injury, his resolve on the matter had strengthened, and Ron had agreed with him where Hermione was concerned. However, she had never before severed all ties with her two best friends, and she already missed them terribly.

Hermione cried herself to sleep on the couch that night, feeling guilty for the things she had said in the heat of the moment and so very alone without her friends of the past seventeen years.

Thank you for reading my story. Please review!

**_Avestia:_** Thanks for being my first reviewer. I'm glad that you enjoyed the story.

**_ShadowWriter-55:_** Thanks for reviewing. I tried to update with Chapter 2 as soon as possible, and I hope you like it.

**_Rane2920072:_** Thanks for reviewing and having confidence in Unspeakable. Hermione and Sirius are a cute couple, aren't they?

**_Moony's-Mate: _**Thanks for reviewing. I'm glad that you like my story. Also, thanks for adding Unspeakable to your favorites.


	3. Alive Again

A/N: All HP canon character, locales, and objects belong to JK Rowling. I am not making any money for writing this story. I, Queen of Alexandria, am writing this story for fun only.

_Italics_ represent thoughts. Replies to reviews are located at the end of the chapter.

Unspeakable 

Chapter Three: Alive Again

Hermione arrived for work at the Department of Mysteries promptly at 8:30 the next day and spent the entire morning researching the veil. Thus far, her search for knowledge had produced nothing useful, and she was becoming frustrated. There was simply no information to be found regarding the veil. Hermione had come close to discovering something significant on only one occasion that morning. In the archives, she had found a file that was supposedly devoted to her topic, but the papers in the file had been suspiciously replaced with a report on the origins of the Unforgivable curses.

It seemed that someone had anticipated future inquiries about the veil and had taken measures to prevent any further discoveries. Unfortunately for Hermione, the thorough plans of her unknown opponent were successful.

After spending half an hour brainstorming possible new approaches to her seemingly impossible task, she had decided that she would look into all Department files about Orpheus McAllister. Details about his life would surely provide insight into his motive for creating the enigmatic veil.

It took Hermione only fifteen minutes to get permission from Harris to enter the office of Unspeakable personal files and retrieve the thick folder labeled Orpheus McAllister. However, reading the enclosed documents proved to be much more time-consuming. McAllister had been an Unspeakable for forty-two years and had made more discoveries and inventions than any other Unspeakable in the history of the Department; there was a great deal of material to be covered.

Reading the file was intriguing to Hermione, though. It also gave her a direction to take the investigation in. She learned that Orpheus had been an outgoing, optimistic person before the death of his wife, Eurydice. Supporters of Voldemort had murdered Eurydice during the first war, and Orpheus had seemed depressed and withdrawn from the world since then. According to other Unspeakables of the time, he arrived for work earlier than anyone else in the Department and worked excessively late hours every day. Others only glimpsed him every now and then because he never seemed to leave the room where he worked on a top-secret project that he refused to discuss.

Hermione was able to deduce that the top-secret project was the veil. She had been correct in thinking that its initial purpose was not use as a weapon. She surmised that it was a portal Orpheus had used in an attempt to bring Eurydice back to life, as he had most likely believed that the Death Eaters had unjustly robbed her of her life.

Because Sirius had not been able to return to the world of the living after his fall, the portal was obviously flawed; it only allowed one-way travel. She could also safely assume that Orpheus had realized his mistake. If he had tried to use the portal he would have met the same end as Sirius, but Orpheus had died of a heart attack.

Despite the fact that she had pieced together a great deal of information about the veil, Hermione felt that several pieces of the puzzle were still missing.

A few minutes later, she remembered something useful. Grace had told her that she had been assigned the case because no one else wanted it. They feared the veil because it had caused Orpheus McAllister to lose his mind. _How did it cause his insanity? What did the veil do to him?_

Hermione decided to ask Grace if she knew anything more about the matter; even seemingly trivial, irrelevant fragments of knowledge could often lead to crucial discoveries.

She walked as hastily as she could to her friend's cubicle only to see Grace preparing to leave. "Grace, do you know anything else about Orpheus McAllister or the veil?" she questioned in a rush.

"I don't know much because I only saw the man a few times; he was always shut up in a room somewhere working on that veil of his. I really have to go now, though. My pass to the Forbidden Archive expires in twenty minutes."

"The Forbidden Archive?" Hermione asked, confused. She had never heard of such a place within the Department.

"It's one of the most heavily guarded rooms in the Department. Unspeakables are only allowed enter with one of these spell-proof passes approved by Harris himself when it is an Unspeakable's last resort on an assignment," Grace explained, holding up a pass for Hermione to see.

"I have to go now if I want to finish my work, but I promise I'll talk to you later," Grace said.

"Wait! Can you get me a pass and take me with you? I need to search for more files about the veil, and it's very urgent," Hermione pleaded.

"Alright, I suppose I could. Wait here while I get you a pass and have mine renewed," Grace agreed before rushing off down the small corridor that led to Harris' office.

After a moment of standing alone in the cubicle in suspense, Hermione began to pace. It was an old habit that surfaced when she was engrossed in thought, trying to solve a particularly difficult problem. Despite the fact that she now walked with a cane, the habit had not disappeared. She felt as though she was on the verge of a major breakthrough in her assignment and could not seem to stand still.

Minutes seemed as long as hours, but Grace eventually returned and handed Hermione a small, square piece of parchment with Harris' signature on it. "Follow me," Grace said as she walked toward a doorway at the back of the main office.

She led Hermione through the maze of twisting corridors that lay beyond the doorway. Hermione noticed that the corridors became darker and narrower as they approached the Forbidden Archive. Thick layers of dust made it obvious that few people had traversed this area of the Department of Mysteries throughout the years.

They passed through two different magical security checkpoints. The concept behind the security system was similar to that of Gringotts. Each Unspeakable could be identified magically if he or she placed a hand on the heavy, wooden doors of the checkpoints. At the first, the Unspeakable had to be identified and submit a pass. The second station reconfirmed the identity of the person hoping to gain passage to the Forbidden Archive.

Finally, Hermione and Grace had entered the large, circular room filled with enormous, old, wooden chests that contained the most confidential of files. Grace found what she was looking for within twenty minutes, but Hermione had to search for quite a while before locating a file that had been submitted by Orpheus McAllister twenty-nine years ago.

As she searched, Grace had given her a few facts about Orpheus. Apparently, in his old age, he had acted somewhat demented. On the few occasions that other had seen him, they had noticed that he muttered under his breath, as if lost in his own world. Grace told Hermione that Orpheus had sometimes talked quietly to himself about "destroying the monstrosity." Hermione inferred that the "monstrosity" he referred to was the veil. He must have realized the dangers presented by his invention gone wrong.

By the time Hermione had retrieved the file and exited the Forbidden Archive, it was time for her to leave work. She was determined to solve the mystery surrounding the veil, so she took the file with her when she apparated home.

Upon arriving at her house, Hermione walked to her living room and sat down on the couch to peruse the papers she had obtained. Several hours' worth of reading was included in the file, and Hermione remained seated on the couch until late in the evening. Orpheus' detailed report became more shocking with every paragraph. By the time Hermione had finished reading the file, she was strongly tempted to do something very irrational.

According to his report, Orpheus had been trying to create a portal through which a living wizard or witch could summon someone who had died. He believed that Eurydice deserved to finish the rest of her lifetime, and he was prepared to do anything necessary to make his goal a reality. However, there had been an unanticipated hitch in the plan; no form of magic could bring someone back from the dead, regardless of how the person died. If death was the result of physical damage of any kind to the body, the person could never live again. Orpheus had discovered this when he had tried to summon Eurydice from beyond the veil. He reported that he had heard her voice; she had told him that magic would never be strong enough to revive the dead.

He had tried to cross the portal to physically pull Eurydice from the clutches of death, but she had begged him not to. Eurydice had known that Orpheus had made another mistake in the creation of the veil. Her disembodied voice had informed him that the portal would only allow one to travel one way. A living person who went beyond the veil would remain alive but would be trapped forever with the dead. The person would also remain unchanged; he or she would not age or be at all altered in appearance over time.

Orpheus had realized that he had not created something with which to regain his beloved Eurydice, but he had instead created something that could be used as a weapon in the hands of the wrong person. He had spent the rest of his life trying to destroy the veil. In case he died before he managed to complete the task, he had left a record in the Forbidden Archive. Orpheus had also written that the file was charmed; it could only be found by someone who was his equal or better because only such a person was capable of carrying out the task.

Hermione knew that Orpheus' quest to destroy the veil had eventually caused him to lose his mind, but she had deduced that he had been of sound mind when the file had been written.

_I have a feeling that this information could be right. Although there is no proof, it seems logical. This means that Sirius may still be alive. If I could find a way to give the portal temporary two-way travel capabilities, Sirius and only Sirius could be summoned._

Hermione knew that the present situation was similar to the night Sirius had "died" in many ways. She would have to break into the Ministry building at night, so as to avoid being seen. Hermione was aware that the last time she had gone to the Department of Mysteries in the middle of the night to save a life, a life had been lost. However, even if it was a trap, she felt that she had to take action because there was a small chance that Sirius could still be alive.

_He saved my life once. I owe it to him to try my best to rescue him from the veil._ During the summer before her fifth year, Sirius had fought off three Death Eaters who had tried to attack her. Harry hadn't yet arrived at 12 Grimmauld Place when she had been ambushed. One evening, Hermione had flooed without permission to Diagon Alley, and on her return, the three had tried to kill her. Sirius had found her desperately trying to defend herself in a side street near the Order headquarters. After stunning them, he had cast memory charms to erase all recollection of his presence in the struggle from their minds.

Hermione still missed him at times because he had been such a great friend, and she felt that she owed it to him to take the risk. She vowed that she would bring him back.

Hermione did not go to bed until 2:00 in the morning, but even then she could not sleep. The veil and Sirius occupied her every thought, and thoughts continued to run through her mind of their own volition. While lying awake and staring up at the ceiling of her room, Hermione had inferred that a common summoning spell would not suffice to bring Sirius back through the veil. However, she did think that if she found a spell that could make the veil capable of allowing such a passage, Accio would work.

Thankfully, the next day was Hermione's day off from work because she had not fallen asleep until 4:30 A.M. On most days, she woke early, but that day was the exception to her rule; she slept until noon.

Hermione spent most of the afternoon in the living room, trying to find a spell she could use, but her efforts were in vain.

_I wish there was some way to bring Sirius back. I still miss him, and reading that file gave me hope that he wasn't truly gone forever. So many other people miss him too. There has to be a way._

Hermione remembered how upset Harry was after the death of his godfather. Even if she was no longer his friend, she wanted to bring Sirius back because it would make him happy again. She remembered how Harry had not spoken to anyone unless he could find no way to avoid it for at least two weeks after the incident. He had spent much of his time trying to use the mirror Sirius had given him to talk to his godfather.

_The mirror…That's it. James and Sirius used a spell to make the mirrors capable of two-way conversations. If the spell can be used to enchant mirrors, surely it could be applied to the veil in order to produce a similar result. Then I could use Accio to summon Sirius._

Hermione decided that the only way to find out what spell had been used was to ask Remus; he was the only remaining Marauder.

Hermione tried to use the Floo Network to contact Remus, but he was not at home, so she apparated to the dilapidated street that contained the front entrance to the Ministry of Magic. The façade of the building resembled a run-down, abandoned warehouse, but Hermione knew that the interior was well kept and extravagant.

She presented her Department of Mysteries ID at the front entrance and was allowed to enter. Most Ministry workers had left by this hour of the day, but a few essential departments would remain open.

Hermione made her way to the new headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. Ten years ago, a group of Death Eaters had discovered that 12 Grimmauld Place was the location of Order headquarters, and they had destroyed the house; fortunately, no one was inside at the time. Shortly after becoming Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt had found a vacated department in the Ministry building that could be used by the Order. It was located in a remote area of the building and disguised as a janitor's closet filled with cleaning supplies.

Upon entering the room, Hermione found herself surrounded by mops, cleaning solutions, dusters, etcetera. She walked to the back of the room, tapped the wall in a certain spot with her wand, and went through the doorway that appeared in the middle of the wall.

Remus Lupin was preparing to leave on a mission for the Order as Hermione arrived. "Remus, wait!" she called out before he could disapparate.

"Hermione, is there something wrong?" he asked with concern.

"I'm working on an assignment for the Department. I need to know the spell that Harry's father and Sirius used to enchant those mirrors, the ones they used to talk to each other when they had separate detentions."

Remus thought for a moment before answering. Finally, he seemed to remember and said, "They used Traicio. It makes an object that is already a spying device or a portal capable of two-way communication or transport."

"Thanks, Remus. I have to be going now, but maybe you can stop by for tea later when neither of us has to work," she said.

"Yes, maybe later. I haven't seen much of you lately. Congratulations on the job," he said with a smile before disapparating.

Hermione rushed from Order headquarters to the Department of Mysteries. When she reached the circular room with many doors, Hermione stopped for a moment to think. It had been thirteen years since she had gone to the room that contained the veil.

She planned to go to the veil room, use the spell she had learned from Remus, and then summon Sirius back through the veil. It was now 10:00 P.M., and Hermione realized that she had arrived at an opportune time to do such a thing because the Department would be nearly deserted at this hour.

She remembered that Harry had led the small group through the door directly across from the entrance to the circular room. Hermione walked to the door and pulled it open. After she had entered the room that lay behind it, the door closed and the circular room rotated.

Hermione swore under her breath, something that was uncharacteristic for her. She had forgotten that the room rotated after someone used a door other than the one that led to the main office. It would be more difficult to find her way out now, and tomorrow morning, the entire Department would realize that someone had been on the premises at a very late hour to do something that would most likely attract suspicion.

_It's too late now. I've already done the damage, so I might as well do what I came here to do._

Hermione was now in the room that contained the tank of filled with brains. She recalled what had happened to Ron and drew her wand. Without pausing to glance at her surroundings, she hurried across the room to the door that she knew led to the room with the veil.

Hermione shivered as she entered the next room. The room, with its tiered stone steps, dim torchlight, and solid black floors, gave her a strange and unpleasant feeling that she couldn't quite place. She quietly walked down the stone steps with some difficulty, as they were tall, and she was unable to use her right leg.

Once she reached the center of the room, Hermione stood directly in front of the veil. She took a deep breath to steady herself before pointing her wand at the tattered, black curtain and saying, "Traicio."

The veil glowed a brilliant shade of pale blue for a moment before returning to its normal color. Hermione took this as a sign to proceed and said "Accio Sirius Black."

Hermione thought her plan had failed until a dark form came hurtling toward her through the veil. She recognized the man lying on the floor in front of her as Sirius. She waved her wand at the veil and said "Finite Incantatem," to undo the Traicio spell before kneeling next to Sirius.

As she had predicted, he looked to be the same as he was at the time the veil had taken him. Apparently crossing back to the world of the living had taken a toll on him, though, because he was barely conscious.

Sirius looked up at her in confusion before he recognized her. "Hermione…" he whispered.

"Yes, it's me. I've brought you back from the veil. We have to leave now, but we can't apparate. Can you walk?"

"I can try," he answered. Hermione helped Sirius to stand, and they walked toward the stone steps. It seemed to take an eternity for the two to reach the top, where the doorway was located. Sirius was very weak and had to lean heavily on Hermione, who was in turn, leaning heavily on her cane for support. She had tried to use magic, but her magic was very weak after such strenuous spell casting, and she could not afford to make an error now.

They tried to move as quickly as they could through the brain room, and luckily, the two of them managed to reach the exit safely.

As she opened the door to the circular room, Hermione heard a noise that sounded like footsteps. She couldn't tell where they were coming from, but they sounded as though they were approaching. She quickly chose a random door and entered the room that lay beyond it.

The room was darkened, and Hermione was nervous about standing in the unfamiliar area with no clue what else might be occupying the room. However, she chose not to use her wand for light because the person now outside the doorway might discover her hiding place. In a few moments, the footsteps passed, and Hermione sighed in relief. She and Sirius walked back into the circular room. Hermione quickly chose another doorway, and fortunately, it was the right one.

After traveling down the narrow entrance corridor and using the lift to reach the Atrium, Hermione and Sirius made their way to the street outside of the front entrance. Hermione kept an arm around Sirius and apparated to her house.

The two of them reappeared in the guest room, and Sirius, with help from Hermione, crossed the room and lay down on the bed to rest. Within a few minutes, he was asleep.

Hermione proceeded to check him for injuries, and discovered that he had a cut above his eye, a bruise on his arm, and a rather nasty looking scar where Bellatrix's curse had hit him in the center of his chest. Apparently, the curse itself had not "killed" Sirius; the force of the blast had pushed him through the veil.

Hermione used a healing charm to mend the cut and the bruise before collapsing into an armchair in the guest room and falling into a dreamless sleep.

Yet again, thanks for reading. Please review!

_**moonyNZ: **_Thank you for reviewing. I'm glad you like my story.

_**Raven176:**_ I'm happy to hear that you think my story has a unique plot. I also appreciate the constructive criticism because it has helped me write chapter three. I will try to move the story along at a faster pace now that the plot and characters have been introduced. Thanks for reviewing and for adding me to your favorites list.

_**Rane2920072:**_ Thank you for continuing to read and review. I hope you enjoy the rest of the story, too.

_**Miriel216: **_Thanks for reviewing. It's great to hear that you liked the first few chapters. I will try to use many more original ideas, so I hope you will continue reading Unspeakable.

_**Le Grimoire:**_ I won't reveal whether or not Draco is really dead right now, but it will come up later in the story. You'll have to keep reading to find out. Thank you for your review.

_**Mai Gamit:**_ I'm glad you enjoyed my story, and I hope you will find the rest of it interesting, too. Thanks for reviewing.


	4. Explanations and Shopping

A/N: All HP canon characters, locales, and objects belong to JK Rowling. I am not making any money for writing this story. I, Queen of Alexandria, am writing this fan fiction for fun only.

_Italics_ represent Hermione's thoughts. **Bold** represents Sirius' thoughts. Replies to reviewers are located at the end of the chapter.

Unspeakable Chapter 4: Explanations and Shopping 

Hermione awoke the following morning to find herself sprawled across the armchair in the guest room. Her arm had fallen asleep, and she had a crick in her neck from lying in the chair all night. Sirius was apparently already awake because the bed was empty and the scent of coffee wafted upstairs from the kitchen.

She reached for her cane and slowly rose from the chair. As she made her way down the staircase, Hermione realized that she must look a mess. Her hair was, as usual, unruly, and she had fallen asleep in yesterday's clothes and makeup. On the first floor of her house she went into her room and walked to her closet. After a few moments, Hermione decided to wear her favorite pair of somewhat faded jeans and a long-sleeved black shirt. She proceeded to make her way to the bathroom to shower and make herself presentable.

Twenty minutes later, she emerged, dressed in the chosen attire. She had also applied a bit of makeup; Hermione had never worn much of the stuff, but she had found that when applied in small amounts, makeup looked good. She had magically dried her hair and pulled it back into a ponytail.

Hermione made her way through the hall and into the kitchen. Sirius sat at the table, drinking a cup of coffee and looking as though he had regained much of his strength. At the place across from him sat a steaming cup of tea; he had remembered that she liked it just as much as she disliked coffee, which was quite a statement.

Wordlessly, she sat down and took a small sip of the tea; it was peach-flavored, her favorite. Every few moments, Sirius tried to say something, but he couldn't seem to find the right words; this was highly uncharacteristic for the former Marauder.

Finally, he spoke, "How did I get back here?"

Hermione then explained in detail how she had brought him back from the veil. After she had finished, he looked astounded and then jubilant. His smile made him look very much like he had in the photo of James and Lily's wedding.

"How's Harry? And what about Remus?" Sirius questioned eagerly. Now that he knew the war was still going on, he had to find out about his godson and his old friend.

"They're fine, but I'm afraid we can't go see them today. They're both away on Order business. Harry won't be back until Friday, and Remus shouldn't arrive until next Tuesday," Hermione answered.

Sirius' looked slightly downcast, as it was only Wednesday.

When Hermione had finished her tea, she used magic to clean the cup, grasped her cane, and walked toward the cabinets that were fixed to the wall above the counter. After replacing the cup in the cabinet, she returned to her seat at the table.

Sirius had noticed that she now used a cane to walk and was gazing at her curiously. When Hermione met his gaze, he looked away. After a moment he asked, somewhat awkwardly, "What happened?"

"Old war injury," she replied curtly. Sirius knew by the look on her face and the tone of her voice, that it was a topic that was quite painful for Hermione to talk about and resolved not to pry. If she wanted to tell him about it, she would eventually, and Sirius had learned that impatience didn't pay after the incident thirteen years ago.

Sirius also realized that he would have to return to 12 Grimmauld Place because he had nowhere else to stay. This revelation made him groan; he hated the place because it held so many unpleasant memories for him.

"I suppose I'll have to return to Grimmauld Place today," he said bitterly.

"No, you won't. It was destroyed in a Death Eater ambush several years ago. You can stay with me if you want," Hermione responded.

At this, Sirius looked pleased. The house was _gone_; he would never have to go back, never have to live there again. Sirius was also happy to hear that he could stay with Hermione because he had grown to hate living alone with only his torturous memories to keep him company. There was only one small, negative aspect of the situation; all of Sirius' belongings were in the house when it had been destroyed.

As if she knew what he was thinking, Hermione said, "I have to go to Diagon Alley today to pick up a book to use in my research at work. You can come with me and do some shopping."

"We should leave in a few minutes. I expect that it'll be crowded today," she added.

"I can't go out in public. I'm probably still wanted. It's been years, but someone might still recognize me. I was quite the notorious felon, in case you've forgotten," Sirius said nervously.

"Not long after Kingsley Shacklebolt became Minister of Magic, you were pardoned. Your supposed 'death' was never announced, so only members of the Order and Unspeakables believed that you had died. It's been thirteen years. I think you shouldn't attract too much attention," Hermione explained.

"Let's go then," Sirius said with a grin. He and Hermione apparated to Diagon Alley a few minutes later.

When the two reappeared, they were standing outside of Gringotts. Hermione and Sirius walked into the bank and stopped in front of the counter. A goblin with an angry look stared at them from behind the counter as though waiting for one of them to speak.

"I need to make a withdrawal from vault 711," Sirius said.

"We also need to stop at vault 314," Hermione put in as she and Sirius placed two small gold keys on the counter.

"Griphook! Take these two to vaults 711 and 314!" the goblin yelled as one of his coworkers hurried across the room.

"Follow me, please," Griphook said, and he proceeded to lead Sirius and Hermione down a long, marble-floored hallway. At the end of the hallway, the three passed through a dark, wooden door that led to the cavernous area where the many vaults of Gringotts were located.

The goblin climbed inside a rickety, steel cart and motioned for them to come aboard. Sirius quickly strode forward and boarded the cart, but Hermione was having some difficulties because of her inability to move her right leg. However, after a bit of help from Sirius, she was also seated in the cart.

Sirius, being the thrill seeker that he was, obviously enjoyed the dangerous ride, and although most wouldn't have thought her capable of enjoying such things, Hermione liked the adventure, too.

They arrived first at Hermione's vault. As there was only a moderate amount of money inside, Griphook had only to insert the key into the door and turn it to open the heavy, iron vault door. Hermione hastily collected a small bag of coins and returned to the cart, where Sirius once again helped her to board.

At vault 711, Griphook had to stroke the door with one finger. When it had identified him as a Gringotts goblin, he used the key to open the door. Sirius entered the vault and began to collect the necessary money. From the cart, Hermione could see that the vault was huge and contained many large piles of gold; she had never seen so much gold at once before.

Sirius could not deny that such wealth was useful, but he sometimes felt a bit guilty to be the possessor of the Black family's ill-gotten gains. **If mother knew that I was the only Black left to inherit the family fortune, she'd turn over in her grave. **At this thought, Sirius gave a wry smile and turned to head back to the cart.

After another wild ride through the numerous, underground levels of Gringotts, Hermione and Sirius once again stood outside the building in the cool sunshine of late autumn.

Hermione began to walk toward Flourish and Blotts, and Sirius followed. The bookstore was not his favorite shop to visit in Diagon Alley, but he wanted to see how much it had changed in the years of his absence.

Once inside the store, Hermione made her way to a section of seemingly uninteresting research volumes, and Sirius decided to check out the section on pranking. In his younger years, he had considered such tomes sacred, as they had helped him to wreak havoc on the Slytherins at school.

As she skimmed through a useful-looking book titled The Creation and Destruction of Portals, Hermione heard muffled laughter from the next aisle; it sounded like Sirius had discovered an interesting read.

She took the book and walked as quietly as possible to the next aisle. Sirius seemed to be very wrapped up in a book entitled 1,001 Unforgettable Pranks; his black hair had fallen into his bright blue eyes, but he was to busy to brush it aside.

Hermione suddenly had a spontaneous but quite humorous idea. _Oh,_ _the sheer irony of pranking a prankster. I can't ignore such an opportunity. _She grinned gleefully as she concealed herself behind a bookcase and drew her wand.

Hermione whispered, "Wingardium Leviosa," and the book began to float in front of Sirius. She cast a voice changing charm so that her voice would sound deep and more menacing, and then she used a spell that would make her voice seem to come from the book Sirius was reading when she spoke. "Sirius…" her now deep and somewhat raspy voice intoned. She then said, "Finite Incantatem," and remained hidden in order to view the results of her prank.

Sirius' startled look was priceless. In surprise, he quickly backed away from the book as he drew his wand. Upon bumping into the bookcase behind him, Sirius turned around to see Hermione emerge from her hiding place and feign a look of innocence.

However, she didn't possess the ability to keep a straight face in such situations, and soon, she started to laugh. Sirius almost instantly realized what had happened and began to laugh, also.

"Hermione, I never figured you for a prankster. I'm impressed," he said, grinning.

" I must be spending too much time around the twins. I don't know what came over me, but I couldn't resist," Hermione replied, also smiling.

"Very good for an amateur," Sirius commented jokingly.

"I have to go to buy new robes. I'll be at Madam Malkin's while you finish your shopping here," Sirius said after remembering that he had come to Diagon Alley for a specific reason.

"Alright, I'll meet you there when I'm done," Hermione answered as she returned to the shelf that contained books about portals.

Hermione spent another forty-five minutes in Flourish and Blotts and emerged with three new, potentially useful books. She made her way as quickly as possible down the crowded street toward the aforementioned robe shop.

She walked inside and browsed the aisles of clothing for a few moments but saw nothing she liked. After a few more moments, Sirius came from the other side of the store to meet her. He was already dressed in one of the sets of new robes he had bought.

His appearance was slightly aristocratic now that he was able to purchase nice robes, but he still had a rebellious and fun loving air about him. Hermione found herself thinking that the look suited him very well.

Sirius and Hermione left Madam Malkin's shop and strolled outside. They had taken only a few steps when Hermione heard someone calling her name through the noise of the crowd. She turned around to see Grace approaching.

"Hey, Hermione. How are you?" her friend greeted.

"Hello, Grace. I'm fine, thanks. How about you?" Hermione said in response.

"Great. It's so good to have a day off from the Department. I had to do some shopping," Grace said, holding up a new set of wine-colored robes and several interesting joke shop items.

When Grace noticed Sirius, she asked, "Aren't you going to introduce me to your boyfriend?"

Sirius looked shocked that someone would make such a suggestion before he recalled that he and Hermione weren't so far apart in age anymore. Hermione blushed and replied awkwardly, "Sirius isn't my boyfriend." She paused to think before saying, "He's just an…um…old friend from years ago." She definitely did not want to go into the detailed explanation that she knew would follow if she introduced Grace to someone whom she thought was dead. Hermione also did not want to divulge information about the veil to anyone, even Grace, until she found a way to destroy it. She assumed that since it had been quite a few years since the incident, it would be okay to introduce him as Sirius if she didn't give a last name.

"Sirius, this is Grace, my friend from work," Hermione added.

"Pleased to meet you," Sirius said.

"Likewise," came the reply.

After a few moments of conversation, Grace looked at her watch. "Crap! I'm late," she exclaimed, but then she said in a calm tone of resignation, "They should know better than to expect me to be on time by now."

" I really have to leave now, but I'll see you tomorrow. Bye," Grace said to Hermione as she turned and hurried down the busy street to find a place to apparate.

"Bye," Hermione called after her friend.

"How about some ice cream before we leave?" Sirius suggested.

Hermione agreed, and the two made their way to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor.

Halfway down the street, Hermione's cane seemed to slip on the pavement for some reason, and she staggered but regained her balance. A few minutes later, it happened again, and this time, she noticed that someone had used a spell to cause the cane to move in strange ways and make her lose her balance.

Before Hermione could mention it to Sirius or move into a building and away from the witch or wizard casting the harmful spells, someone stepped into her path. When she looked up, she found that she was face to face with Lucius Malfoy.

"Well, if it isn't the Mudblood. Still an invalid I see," he commented snidely with his usual smirk.

Hermione had learned to ignore the insulting term "Mudblood," but Malfoy's remark about her disability made her furious.

Malfoy appeared to be shocked speechless when he saw Sirius, but he quickly overcame his lack of rude words. "I don't know how you returned from the dead, Black, but it's a shame you found a way."

Sirius reached into his pocket for his wand; Malfoy was sometimes unpredictable, and it was best to be prepared to defend oneself when dealing with him. Sirius also intended to hex the living hell out of Malfoy if he said anything else.

Unfortunately, Malfoy chose to speak. "You're just as worthless as your Mudblood girlfriend. Why any wizard from a respectable, pureblood family would associate with such filth is beyond me."

Hermione was very angry, but she somehow managed to restrain herself. She figured that no matter how much Malfoy deserved to be hexed, the middle of Diagon Alley was not an appropriate place to take such an action.

Sirius, on the other hand, had much less self-control. He lunged at Malfoy and slammed him against the wall of a nearby building. Sirius was choking Malfoy with one hand and held his wand, which was pointed at his adversary, in the other. "If you say one more word, I'll make sure you regret it," he threatened.

Once Hermione had regained some semblance of composure, she decided to intervene. People were beginning to stare, and she didn't want to deal with the trouble that could ensue if the fight didn't cease. "He's not worth the trouble. Just leave him be," she said as she dragged Sirius away from the fray. However, Hermione continued to glare contemptuously at Malfoy.

Malfoy finally chose to leave and walked away. Sirius still had his wand pointed at Malfoy's back, though.

"Let's go to Florean Fortescue's. There's no need to let the git ruin our day," Hermione said sensibly as she walked toward the ice cream parlor.

After ordering, Hermione sat in silence and ate a caramel sundae. She was contemplating Malfoy's comment about her injury. She had grown used to the slurs against her ancestry in the long, difficult years of war, and they no longer bothered her, but she couldn't help being disturbed by the remarks about her injury. Hermione was already unhappy about walking with a cane; to degrade her for it was to fan the emotional flames that so often seemed to consume her.

**I know I acted atrociously, but I didn't think that she would be this angry with me.** Sirius had mistaken Hermione's melancholy silence for anger and hoped that she wouldn't stay mad at him for long. He remembered how she had chastised Harry and Ron for fighting and breaking rules years ago and decided to apologize.

"Hermione, I know what I did was wrong. Malfoy deserved it, but I shouldn't have attacked him in Diagon Alley like I chose to do. I'm sorry."

"I wasn't mad at you. I was just thinking," she answered distractedly.

"Is something wrong?" Sirius asked in concern.

"I just can't forget what Malfoy said about my injury. I know I should consider the source of the comment, but I just can't stop wondering if he was right."

"Malfoy isn't right, and he never will be. He's just resentful because you, a Muggleborn, have surpassed so many purebloods where magic is concerned. Most of my family had the same bigoted ideas, but they were all wrong."

Sirius was quiet for a moment before musing aloud, "Maybe I was switched at birth, and I'm really of no relation to the Black family. Hmm, probably not, but it is a nice daydream, isn't it?" Hermione smiled at this conjecture. She was feeling a bit better now; it was amazing how talking to someone could help at times.

She and Sirius sat there at the table for another thirty minutes, reminiscing about the days before the incident. Sirius also told her about a few of his adventures as a Marauder. Hermione thought it felt nice to be distracted from her troubles, and Sirius was still rather comical despite the thirteen years he had spent in Azkaban.

Finally, the two left the ice cream parlor and found a spot that wasn't too crowded to apparate. When they reappeared they were standing at the end of the long walkway that led to Hermione's house. Hermione enjoyed traveling along the walkway because it was very beautiful; the ground was flat and the path was lined with redbud trees.

She and Sirius walked in comfortable silence until they were halfway down the path. Hermione suddenly felt a sharp pain shoot through her right leg, and she staggered.

"What's wrong?" Sirius asked.

"My leg still hurts every now and then. It'll pass in a minute or two."

Sirius was not sure that Hermione was being entirely truthful about the extent of her pain, but there was nothing more he could say without making her angry; she was very proud at times and did not always readily accept help from others.

However, the pain did not subside; it intensified, and Hermione collapsed. Fortunately, Sirius caught her before she fell.

_It's never been this bad before. I have to get into the house and take a pain-relieving potion soon._ Hermione grit her teeth and tried to endure it. She knew she could not apparate because it required concentration that she did not presently possess.

Sirius easily picked Hermione up and began to carry her to the house. He reached the front door as soon as possible and set her down to unlock the door. After they had entered the house, Sirius carried Hermione to the couch and asked if she had any potions that would help.

"I keep the pain-relieving potions in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom," she said as she winced in anguish.

Sirius rushed to the cabinet and hastily looked for said potions. Upon finding them, he grabbed a bottle and ran back to the living room.

When Hermione received the bottle of potion she quickly drank the awful concoction and made a face. "It's terrible, but it's the only thing that works," she explained.

Sirius sat down on the couch beside her and asked, "Are you feeling better now?"

"Yes, much better," Hermione answered tiredly. The immediate numbing effect of the potion was wonderful when she was in such agony, but she hated the side effect of the mixture; it made her unbearably drowsy.

"I got the injury three years ago when I was attacked by Antonin Dolohov. I had just rescued Orion Kent's youngest child from a building that had burned almost to the ground and was preparing to apparate when he arrived. He cast a spell called Stativus Aeger Consilii, and I was unable to use my right leg from then on. I've seen so many healers, but no one could find a cure," Hermione confessed. For some reason, she felt that she could tell Sirius about the incident and not worry that he would think of her as weak or pity her, as most people did.

Once she finished speaking, Hermione knew that she would not be capable of holding her eyes open for much longer; she could not focus, and her eyelids felt as though they had lead weights attached to them. Hermione ceased to fight sleep and closed her eyes. She could hear Sirius saying something, but she couldn't tell what. Nevertheless, his voice seemed comforting, and Hermione allowed herself to fall asleep.

After a few moments of slumbering peacefully on the couch, Hermione stirred but remained asleep. She leaned against Sirius, and rested her head on his shoulder. Sirius stayed still for a few minutes because he didn't want to wake her, but then he realized that she would probably sleep for a while without interruption because of the pain-relieving potion. Sirius moved from the couch, and walked toward the kitchen to get a glass of water, but he paused at the doorway to look back at Hermione.

**She didn't deserve any of this; she deserved to be happy. I will try to find a way to make her happy again.**

Thank you for reading. Please review!

**_Rane2920072:_** It's good to hear from you again. I'm glad that you liked the last chapter. I'm also looking forward to the Sirius/Hermione romance and it will progress gradually starting with this chapter. Thanks for your review.

**_gizmama: _**Thanks for reviewing. I hope that you will like the rest of the story, as well.

**_Autumn92685039: _**Thanks for the review. I'm happy that you liked my introduction to the story. Also, thank you for adding Unspeakable to your list of favorite stories.

**_Sirione: _** lol. It will be eventually. Thanks for reviewing.****

**_JTBJAB: _**I'm happy that Sirius is back, too. I appreciate the review.

**_CharmedLeoLvr: _**Thank you for reviewing. I'm glad that you liked the story. Your pen name is cool. I like Charmed, too.

**_Jade121: _**Thanks for your review. Also, thanks for adding me to your favorites list.

**_Moony's-Mate: _**Thanks for continuing to review. I will try to post new chapters as often as possible.

**_calypsoblue: _**Your pen name is awesome; I like it. It's good to hear that my fan fiction is interesting. Thank you for reviewing.

**_moonyNZ: _**Thanks for reviewing yet again. I'm glad you like Unspeakable.

**_Raven176: _**I'm happy to hear that the plot is improving. The introduction was just so intricate that it took a while to write. It was great to bring Sirius back, and I'll try to keep the story interesting. I appreciate your honest reviews, and I hope to hear from you again.

**_vixen519: _**lol.****I agree. Sirius is just the coolest. Thank you for reviewing.

**_gamergal20: _**Thanks for the review. I hop you enjoy the other chapters I plan to post, as well. I appreciate being added to your favorites list.

**_Monai: _**Sirius/Hermione is a really good pairing. I also read a lot of the time turner stories, but I wanted to write something different. The answer to your question will appear in one of the next two chapters. Thanks for reviewing.


	5. Reunited

A/N: All HP canon characters belong to JK Rowling. I am not making any money for writing this story. I, Queen of Alexandria, am writing this story for fun only.

_Italics_ represent Hermione's thoughts. **Bold** represents Sirius' thoughts. Replies to reviewers are located at the end of the chapter.

Unspeakable 

Chapter Five: Reunited

After waking from her nap, Hermione began to read the three new books she had bought at Flourish and Blotts about portals. Hermione was a fast reader, so she soon found that the first volume, The Creation and Destruction of Portals, was not very helpful.

After only a couple of hours, she set the book down on the end table. When she had bought it, a few sections of the book had looked promising, but Hermione now knew that the ideas in the book were inapplicable to the veil.

With a sigh of frustration, she reached for the second book, Uses of Portals, and hoped that it would provide more information. Hermione had been at the task of perusing the book for only about ten minutes when Sirius entered the room.

"What are you working on?" he inquired upon seeing the various books and papers spread across the couch and the end table.

Hermione hesitated for a second; she was never supposed to discuss her work with anyone who was not an Unspeakable, but she knew she could trust Sirius. "I have to find a way to destroy the veil before it can fall into the wrong hands. It could be a powerful weapon for Voldemort and the Death Eaters, and I can't let them have it," she answered.

"I don't seem to be having any luck, though," Hermione elaborated ruefully.

"Maybe I can help," Sirius offered as he sat down next to her on the couch.

"That would be great. I haven't looked at this book yet," she said, passing the third volume, Unusual Magical Transportation, to him. Despite his reputation as a troublemaker, Sirius was actually very intelligent, so Hermione was glad that he wanted to help with the research. Sirius was one of the few people she had met that was on her intellectual level.

Fifteen minutes later, Hermione found a bit of information that seemed interesting. The book stated that the spell Aboleo could be used to destroy any type of portal. "Sirius, I might have found something useful. Do you think it could work?"

Sirius stopped reading and set his book down. As he leaned toward her to read the marked passage on page 258, his arm brushed against hers, and Hermione shivered. She was suddenly aware of just how close to Sirius she was sitting.

Sirius, however, didn't seem to notice anything because he was concentrating on the book. Hermione was brought back to the problem at hand abruptly when he said, "No, it won't work. It says here that the portal's transport capabilities must be taken away first, but it doesn't say how that's supposed to be done."

Sirius then resumed his reading, and Hermione turned the page, hoping for better luck with her goal. They continued to read for another twenty minutes before Hermione reached for her cane, stood, and stretched.

"I have to go back to work tomorrow, so I'd better get some rest. Good night, Sirius," she said.

"'Night, Hermione," Sirius replied, still gazing intently at the book that rested on the arm of the couch beside him.

Hermione walked down the hallway to her room and shut the door. She seemed lost in thought as she changed into her pajamas and turned down the bed covers. _It's so different, not living alone anymore. Rather nice, actually, and it's great to have Sirius back. Something has changed, though. _

Hermione was aware that she and Sirius were not so far apart in age now, and it was a difficult concept to wrap her mind around. He was no longer as old as her parents or her professors, and this fact had brought about a slight change in the way that the two acted when they were around each other. She couldn't quite place the change, though, but something definitely seemed different.

Not long after going to bed, Hermione fell asleep. However, she did not sleep well; she dreamed that she was arguing with Harry again. She woke up shortly after the nightmare version of her estranged friend told her that he never wanted to see her again and glanced at the clock on the nightstand. Weak, golden light was filtering through the shades, so Hermione knew that it was time for her to wake up; she was right because according to the clock, it was 7:00 A.M.

Hermione went through her usual morning routine, and stepped into the kitchen at 7:45. She quickly fixed herself a bowl of cereal for breakfast, started a pot of coffee, and sat down at the table across from Sirius, who was apparently not a morning person, unlike Hermione, who enjoyed the early part of the day immensely.

"Ugh…light…make it go away," Sirius groaned by way of morning greeting. He looked as though he was trying to take a nap at the breakfast table; his eyes were closed, and he was leaning against one arm.

After finishing her cereal, Hermione replaced the clean bowl in the cabinet and poured a cup of coffee for her lethargic friend. _I don't see how he drinks the stuff, especially without sugar or creamer._

Sirius was jolted awake by the sound of the coffee cup being placed on the table in front of him.

"Have some coffee. I think you need it," Hermione said, smirking slightly.

"Thanks," Sirius replied drowsily as he took a few sips. In a few moments, he seemed much more awake and ready for the day.

"I have to work until 4:30 today. I'll see you later," Hermione said as she put on a coat and apparated to the street in front of the Ministry building.

"Bye," Sirius said as she disappeared.

For a few hours, Sirius amused himself with a device that Muggles referred to as a television, but he eventually became bored. The humorous sitcom he had been watching went off, and there was nothing else that interested him.

Sirius walked up the stairs to the guest room that he was currently staying in and sat down in the armchair. Upon noticing the copy of 1,001 Unforgettable Pranks that he had purchased the day before, Sirius began to skim through the book. He stopped on page 49; a brilliant idea had come to Sirius. **It's payback time. Malfoy should have learned by now not to mess with a Marauder.** He grinned deviously and apparated.

When Sirius reappeared, he was standing in Hogsmeade outside of Zonko's joke shop. With a jovial look, he opened the door and entered his favorite place to shop.

The small store was filled to the point of overflowing with various items designed for causing mayhem. Sirius began to browse, walking down the narrow aisles one by one.

"Aha!" he whispered to himself as he reached for a can of invisible super glue that sat on the shelf in front of him. After finding the necessary item, Sirius made his way to the counter and paid for the glue along with a deck of Exploding Snap cards. He proceeded to walk back onto the street and apparate to Hermione's house.

Sirius stored his purchases in the middle drawer of the dresser in his room and went to the living room to continue researching a method to destroy the veil.

When Hermione arrived home from work at approximately 4:30, she found Sirius scribbling furiously on a scrap of parchment and muttering to himself. He looked up at her when she sat down wearily on the couch. "If we combine the Abduco spell with some other incantation, the veil won't be a portal anymore, and we can destroy the actual structure with Aboleo. The only problem is that I haven't found a spell to combine Abduco with," Sirius said in a tone of voice that was partially triumphant.

"Thanks, Sirius," Hermione said gratefully. "I used the Department archives all day at work, but I didn't find anything. I'll take this to work and do more research tomorrow," she added, gesturing to the piece of parchment covered in Sirius' untidy scrawl.

The rest of the evening was uneventful. Hermione and Sirius played several games of chess, somehow managed to cook dinner without making too awful a mess, and watched half of a movie.

Because she was a Muggleborn, Hermione knew about television and movies, and she enjoyed them at times. After buying a house, she had gotten a TV and a DVD player to alleviate the occasional fit of boredom.

Sirius, on the other hand, had never before seen a television or DVD player because of his strictly pureblood upbringing and time spent in Azkaban. He was fascinated by the devices and soon understood why Muggles liked them so much.

Halfway through the movie, Hermione departed from the living room to go to bed; she had had an exhausting and unpleasant day at the Department and felt as though she could sleep for a week.

Hermione plans were ruined yet again by the same nightmare. Her recurring dream about the fight with Harry woke her at 3:00 A.M. While sitting in bed, unable to go back to sleep, Hermione mused about the upcoming visit that she and Sirius were obligated to pay to Harry.

_Tomorrow's the day. I doubt he'll want to speak to me, but now that Sirius is back and living with me, I really don't have a choice. Why does everything have to be so complicated?_

Hermione grasped her cane and walked toward the kitchen to make tea. It seemed to calm her nerves at times, and she most certainly needed to be calmed now. Once the warm drink was ready, Hermione sat in her usual chair at the table and took a few sips, musing about the tangled catastrophe that was her life.

Things hadn't always been like this. Sure, life had never been simple for Hermione, but she had never lost control in such a way before. She just couldn't manage to be happy now, coping with all that had happened in the past few years. She felt useless in the war, and so many people that she knew had been killed or hurt. Her injury had changed her own life drastically. Hermione had also lost friends in other ways; the fight had caused tension with Harry and Ron, and she felt that it might be too late to repair the damage that her harsh words had done. Never before had Hermione felt so alone.

"They'll never forgive me," she whispered despondently to herself.

"I'm not so sure of that. No one could ever stay mad at you for too long," Sirius' voice said from the shadows near the doorway of the kitchen. Hermione was startled; she hadn't been aware of his presence.

"This time is different, though, Sirius," Hermione replied dejectedly. "I haven't ever ruined things so badly until now."

"Who is it that you want forgiveness from?" Sirius inquired.

"Harry and Ron. We got into a fight the day before you came back. I lost control of my temper and my pride, and I said horrible things that I wish I could take back. I'm really not such a good friend after all."

She paused for a moment for continuing, "After you…left…Harry put himself in danger so many times, but he wouldn't allow anyone else to do the same, no matter the reason. He was so afraid of losing someone else. After my injury, he and Ron were overprotective; they didn't realize that in treating me as though I would die at any moment, they were refusing to allow me to live. They criticized me for becoming an Unspeakable, and I couldn't stand it anymore, so I lashed out at them. I doubt they can forgive me because I crossed the line."

Sirius was silent for a while, pondering the situation, before he said earnestly, "You'd be surprised at what people can forgive, especially when it's someone they love that needs forgiveness."

An indefinable expression crossed his face as he said, almost as though speaking to himself, "I saw Lily and James. When I fell through the veil, I saw them again, and they forgave me for everything I did, for inadvertently causing their deaths."

Hermione was speechless as she listened to Sirius. "I'm glad that I got the chance to talk to them. Life seems different now, now that there is some closure to be found," he finished.

"I'll talk to Harry and Ron. I'll apologize tomorrow," Hermione promised. " I'm just so afraid that it won't work out," she confessed.

"Everything will be fine. I'm sure of it," Sirius reassured her confidently. Hermione was encouraged by such faith and vowed to attempt to make things right again.

Sirius rose from his chair, said good night to Hermione, and headed back up the stairs toward his room. Hermione remained in the kitchen for a few more minutes before deciding that she also needed to get some rest and going back to her room.

The next day at the Department passed very slowly for Hermione; each minute seemed to last an hour. Work was very uninteresting for Hermione because she was stalled on the same problem. For the first time ever, research had failed her; there seemed to be no clue as to how one would go about destroying the veil. Hermione was relieved when the clock read 4:30 because she could leave.

As she distractedly crossed the Atrium on her way to the exit, she noticed Harry, who was standing on the other side of the room making sure he had taken all of the appropriate files with him before exiting the Division headquarters. She gathered her Gryffindor courage about her and took a deep breath before walking over to him.

"Harry, I need to talk to you," Hermione announced nervously.

When Harry looked up from the files, his countenance gave away his bewilderment. He tried to look angry, but his happiness at seeing her belied his expression. He stood speechlessly for a few seconds before speaking. "Sure," Harry replied as he led Hermione to a small, empty corridor that branched off from the main hallway.

"I'm sorry for what I said the other day. There is no excuse for it, and I'll understand if you don't want to be my friend anymore. Can you forgive me?" she said to her former friend once they were alone in the corridor.

For a moment, Hermione thought that Harry wasn't going to say anything, that he was still too furious to be near her, and she started to walk away.

Then, he spoke. "Yes, I can forgive you. You only said what you said because of the way I treated you. I never made your life any easier after the attack three years ago, and I'm sorry."

"So we're still friends?" Hermione asked.

"We always will be," Harry responded with a smile.

"A few days ago, I came across an important breakthrough in an assignment for the Department while you were away, and I think there's something you should know. Can you come over this evening?" Hermione wanted to tell Harry everything about Sirius' return, but she knew that it would have to wait until later because someone in the Ministry building might overhear, and she wasn't taking any chances.

"Yeah, I'll be there around eight," Harry agreed.

"Do you know where Ron is?" Hermione inquired. She wanted to find him because she felt that she owed him an apology, also.

"He's away on Order business, but he's coming back tomorrow night," Harry answered.

"I have to go home now, but I'll see you later," Hermione said as she turned and walked toward the main exit of the Ministry building, her cane producing the usual staccato tapping rhythm on the polished floors of the high-cielinged corridors.

When Hermione entered her house, she immediately began to search for Sirius and promptly found him in the living room. "I talked to Harry, and everything's fine again. He's coming over tonight at eight," she announced happily.

Sirius grinned; he was eager to see his godson after being away for thirteen years, presumed dead.

The two talked for a few moments before Hermione began to read. She was still researching the veil; there had been no lucky break so far, but it was not in Hermione's nature to give up.

At 8:00, the doorbell rang, and Hermione hurried to answer it. When she opened the door, she saw Harry standing on the porch outside. "Hi, Harry. Come on in; there's someone you need to see."

Harry looked as though he had been caught unaware. Hermione hadn't mentioned that anyone else would be at her house. With mild curiosity, he followed his friend down the hallway to the living room.

Harry stopped in the doorway, absolutely confounded, upon seeing the man sitting on the couch. After he regained the ability to speak somewhat coherently, he stammered in amazement, "Sirius…it can't be…Hermione, he's dead…how did you…?"

"I found a way to bring him back from the veil. He wasn't really dead; he was just trapped amongst the dead," Hermione clarified, knowing that Harry had a right to be incredulous. She would, too if she was in such a situation because her explanation did seem ludicrous when voiced aloud.

Harry was now looking at Sirius, still confused. He seemed to be trying to suppress his hope that the man sitting in front of him truly was his godfather, who had supposedly returned from the dead.

"Harry, it's me. I'm back," Sirius said, standing and walking toward him.

Harry contemplated the situation before coming to the conclusion that Hermione wouldn't lie to him about something as significant as this. Sirius must really have returned. He then walked forward and embraced his long lost godfather.

Hermione watched happily. She believed that so much good could come from Sirius' return. There were many people who had missed him, including her, and Sirius would be of great help to the Order. For one of few times in her life, Hermione did not regret a chance she had taken; bringing Sirius back from the veil had been, without a doubt, worth the risk.

Harry stayed for a few hours longer to catch up with his godfather. Sirius had been gone for quite a while after all, and there was so much to talk about. Hermione explained to Harry in detail the story of how she had brought about the miraculous return. The three of them seemed happier than they had been many years.

Soon after Harry left, Hermione's fatigue from the day caught up to her, and she went to her room to get some well-deserved rest. For a change, nightmares did not plague her; she slept soundly and felt refreshed in the morning.

When she apparated to the Department, Sirius was still asleep in the guest room, and she was quiet, so as not to wake him. _I'll talk to him later when I get home. I have to call a meeting of the Order to let them know that he's alive, and I should tell him about it soon._

Hermione only had part of the day to research her assignment; most of her time at the Ministry was spent making sure that all members of the Order knew about the emergency meeting now scheduled for the following night. Hermione succeeded in planning the meeting, and soon it was 4:30. As she apparated home, she realized that it had felt nice to give her exhausted mind a reprieve from the strenuous problem that was the veil.

Hermione's evening also went well. She and Sirius played several games of chess, and she was disappointed to find that he still won every game, just as he had years ago.

"Checkmate," Sirius declared victoriously as their last game came to a close.

"Are you sure you're not cheating? Not even Ron wins that much," Hermione said suspiciously.

"With skill like this, who needs to cheat," Sirius bragged jokingly.

A few seconds later, Hermione heard the doorbell ring. She used her cane to stand and had taken a few steps when her leg started to hurt. Sirius noticed her slight stagger and helped her to the couch. "I'll get the door," he volunteered.

Hermione was a bit worried because only a few people knew that Sirius was alive at the present moment, but she surmised that no harm could come from allowing him to answer the door, seeing as how a Death Eater wouldn't exactly bother to ring the bell.

Sirius quickly made his way to the front door and opened it. When the door swung open, he found himself face to face with Remus Lupin for the first time in thirteen years.

Thanks for reading another chapter. Please review!

**_Raven176:_** Thanks for your encouragement. I would like to know what you think of the scene where Harry finds out Sirius is alive, so please review again. I thought that the ending with Remus at the door would create suspense, so I decided to end the chapter there. I definitely plan to write more Sirius and Hermione interaction, so it will progress throughout the story. Thank you for the reviews.

**_gamergal20: _**Thank you for continuing to read and review.

**_Rane2920072: _**Sorry I took so long to update, but honors classes have been keeping me really busy. In one of the upcoming chapters, there will be a little bit more romance between Sirius and Hermione, so keep reading. Thanks again for reviewing.

**_sexy-jess: _**Thanks for reviewing. I'm glad that you like my story, and I hope you'll read the upcoming chapters, too.

**_JTBJAB: _**I agree. Sirius is awesome, and he's a very fun character to write a fan fiction about. Thanks for reviewing.

**_Autumn92685039:_** Thanks for reading and reviewing.

**_vixen519:_** No, we definitely can't let such a great opportunity go to waste. I didn't originally plan to write about a prank, but you gave me the idea in your review, and I thought it would be a fun scene to write. It's coming up in the next chapter. I hope you like Sirius' prank. Thank you for the idea and also for reviewing.


	6. The Unexpected

A/N: All HP characters, locales, and objects belong to JK Rowling. I am not making any money for writing this story. I, Queen of Alexandria, am writing this fan fiction for fun only.

_Italics_ represent Hermione's thoughts. **Bold** represents Sirius' thoughts. Replies to reviewers are located at the end of the chapter.

I didn't originally plan to write a scene in which Sirius pranks Malfoy, but vixen519 asked for the prank in a review, and I eventually came up with the idea for the particular prank that I used in the story. Thanks to vixen 519 for the idea.

Because I haven't been able to update quite as often, I have made this chapter longer than the rest.

Unspeakable 

Chapter Six: The Unexpected

Sirius was initially surprised at how different his old friend looked. Remus was older now, and the past thirteen years had not been kind to him. The lines around his eyes had deepened, and his hair was almost entirely gray.

Remus appeared astounded at seeing Sirius, or possibly someone who could imitate him so well, standing in the hallway of Hermione's house. However, in a matter of seconds, Remus' confusion turned to anger.

Remus entered the house and drew his wand. "I don't know who you are or how you managed to make yourself the exact image of Sirius Black, but I won't let you harm Hermione. She has been caused enough grief at the hands of the Death Eaters, and it ends now," Remus threatened, his wand aimed at Sirius.

"Moony, it's me. I've come back, and the last thing I'd ever want to do is hurt Hermione," Sirius said truthfully.

Remus' glare wavered. The supposed imposter looked and behaved so like Sirius that it was uncanny. Most imposters could achieve the appearance of a person, but few could manage to acquire the details of the person's demeanor. The man standing at wand point with his back pressed against the wall had managed the same facial expressions that often used to appear on Sirius' countenance, and hardly anyone else referred to Remus as Moony.

Remus was still prepared to hex the man in front of him, but he was also becoming indecisive at this point.

In the living room, Hermione was getting worried. _It can't possibly take that long to answer the door…unless he's gotten into trouble of some sort. He always did have a knack for trouble._ She rose from her seat on the couch and crossed the house to the front hallway as hastily as she could manage.

When Hermione arrived in the hallway, she was confronted with an unexpected sight. Remus had apparently finished with his mission for the Order ahead of schedule and decided to pay her a visit. He must have thought that Sirius was an intruder in disguise, as he now held his old friend at wand point.

"Remus, stop!" Hermione called out from across the hall as she made her way toward her visitor.

Remus seemed further confused by the fact that Hermione knew and would defend the man who looked identical to the deceased Sirius Black, but he lowered his wand.

**Perfect timing, Hermione. **Sirius was very relieved that she had prevented Moony from hexing him, as Remus knew very many unpleasant hexes.

"What's going on, Hermione?" Remus questioned.

"I brought Sirius back from the veil. The veil is my first assignment as an Unspeakable, and I discovered that it is a portal that traps anything or anyone that falls through it and doesn't allow the person or object to pass back through to the living. Sirius remained alive after both Bellatrix's curse and the fall, so I used the Traicio spell and Accio to summon him," Hermione explained for what felt like the millionth time.

Remus was a logical wizard, so he remained a bit skeptical. Hermione realized that she could not blame him, as the idea seemed ridiculous and borderline fictitious when voiced aloud.

It was evident to Sirius that Remus was still under the impression that he was a Death Eater determined to trick Hermione and then hurt her. **How can I prove that I'm really me, though? What would only the real Sirius Black know or say or do?** Sirius concentrated for a few moments before forming a plan.

"Moony, I can prove that I'm Sirius. Watch," Sirius declared.

With that said, Sirius took out his wand and began to conjure a Patronus. No two looked alike, and no one but the real Sirius could conjure one that took such a form. He knew that it would take much more effort without a dementor or a boggart, but it was the only way to settle the matter. He focused on the last time he had seen Lily and James, when he had discovered that they had never hated him for all that had happened, that they had never blamed him. "Expecto Patronum!" Sirius yelled, and a silver dog that resembled his animagus form emerged and ran the length of the corridor before vanishing.

Both Hermione and Sirius could tell that Remus was convinced. After a moment he said, " I guess I'm not the last Marauder after all. Welcome back, Sirius."

The three of them left the hall and walked to the living room, where Hermione promptly took up her seat on the couch. Her leg had been aching again, and she was grateful for the rest.

"How've you been?" Sirius inquired.

"The last few years have been difficult for the Order; Hermione's already told you, I'd bet. Last year, though, Kingsley approved a law that helped those like me get jobs. Since then, I've been a substitute professor for several different schools. I love it, but I'm still looking for a job as a full-time professor," Remus responded.

"I'm happy for you," Sirius congratulated. He had always thought that the discrimination his friend faced was unfair. Such prejudice only made the narrow-minded ignorance of many people painfully evident. Sirius knew how much teaching meant to Remus, and he was glad to hear of the new law.

Remus seemed to be pondering something when he suddenly commented, "You look young. You haven't changed since that night in the Department of Mysteries."

"One perk of falling through the veil was that I didn't age for thirteen years. It's convenient but really strange," Sirius said. Sirius was aware that he was now in a generation of his own. He was thirteen years younger than his old classmates, including Remus, and only eleven years older than Harry and Hermione. It was rather hard to adjust to.

Remus stayed for about an hour more before departing for his house, and Hermione soon became lost in thought. The drastic change that had occurred in her life seemed to astound Hermione each and every time she thought about it. She had wished for three years that someone would help her piece the broken shards of her life back together, and that wish was slowly, gradually becoming a reality. Since Sirius had come back, things had been looking up, and Hermione had allowed herself to hope that life would be once again enjoyable.

Hermione retired to her room early that night and was once again fortunate to get a good night's rest, free of the nightmares that had often plagued her. When she woke, she prepared to leave for work and went downstairs to the kitchen, where she found Sirius in his usual early morning, comatose state.

"Today's the Order meeting. You can meet me in the corridor outside the Department of Mysteries at around 6:00; I have to work late. Grace will be coming with us. She's joining the Order," Hermione announced after eating a granola bar for breakfast.

"I'll be there. It's good to hear that Grace is joining. I think she'll be a great Order member," Sirius said, his voice still hoarse from sleep.

Hermione's day at work was decent. The case regarding the veil was still unsolved, but the odds of a breakthrough seemed to be improving. Hermione spent part of the day talking to Grace and Shane. They really were fun to talk to because they were so outgoing and sometimes comical.

Sirius decided to arrive early. It had been years since he had had the opportunity to explore the Ministry building, and things had changed so much in the past few years. He also planned to pull a prank while there. After gathering the necessities of mischief making, Sirius apparated to the visitor's entrance, and entered the building at about 4:30.

Sirius did not yet want to reveal his identity to anyone when it could be avoided, so he slipped inconspicuously past the security checkpoint in the Atrium. After successfully spending three years on the run, such a deed hardly seemed challenging.

Sirius took the lift to level nine, which contained the Department of Mysteries. He knew that in order for his plan to prank Malfoy to work, he would need help, and Hermione's friend Grace seemed to be a good candidate for an accomplice.

Luckily, Sirius remembered which door led to the Department's main office, and he was granted passage to his destination. Once inside, he tried to remain unnoticed. Sirius strode purposely through the corridors and offices, as thought he were an Unspeakable on a mission. No one seemed to realize that he did not belong on the premises.

He observed Hermione seated at a desk and focused entirely on the various yellowed pieces of parchment in front of her. Sirius did not think she would see him. Soon he found Grace; she was passing by him in the hallway.

"Grace," he hissed quietly. After a moment, she looked in his direction, and he pulled her toward the side of the corridor.

"Sirius, what are you doing here?" Grace asked.

"I'm here for a prank, but I'll need help. Are you interested?"

"Maybe; it depends on the prank."

"Do you know Lucius Malfoy?"

"I've never met him, but he once tried to use his influence with some of the Ministry higher-ups to get me fired. Why do you ask?"

"Since he won't recognize you, this will work perfectly. I need you to contact him, and tell him that the Ministry requires his presence in level two, office 291. It's really a vacant office, but he doesn't know that. When Malfoy arrives, you'll lead him to the office, and then you'll leave. After that, the prank will begin."

Grace thought for only a split second before agreeing to the plan. She couldn't stand the arrogant pain in the arse and thought that he deserved what he would get. The thrill of pranking was also highly irresistible.

Grace used an empty fireplace connected to the Floo Network to contact Malfoy Manner while Sirius waited just outside the door. He could only catch bits and pieces of the conversation, but Sirius could tell by Grace's devious grin when she emerged that things were going as planned.

Sirius went into the room that was to be used to execute the prank and took out the can of invisible magical super glue. A chair sat in front of a desk that was littered with old scraps of parchment that had been abandoned when the former occupants of the office had left. Sirius carefully glued the chair to the floor before liberally coating the seat, back, and arms of the chair with the extremely sticky substance.

Sirius then concealed himself in a side corridor near the vacant office to watch and wait. Sirius anxiously observed the corridor for a few minutes before he heard footsteps approaching. However, he knew that the new arrival couldn't be part of the plan because there was only one person rather than two. Sirius remained still and hoped the intruder would go away soon.

His hopes were dashed, though, when Hermione suddenly entered the room and came to stand in front of him, hands on her hips and a stern expression on her face. She looked very much like a younger version of McGonagall in Sirius' opinion.

"Sirius Black, what are you doing here?" Hermione questioned accusingly. "Are those dung bombs?" she added in a wary voice upon noticing the objects on the table beside him.

"Um…yes, they are, Hermione." He knew he had been caught, and Hermione was too intelligent to fall for a typical Marauder lie or excuse. Besides, she probably wouldn't mind once he had explained everything.

"You can't just gallivant around the Ministry building pranking whomever you want to. There are rules against that sort of thing," Hermione admonished, her voice rising with each word.

Sirius winced. "Keep your voice down," he warned. "You shouldn't be so uptight. Besides, Malfoy deserves it. I'm not doing anything wrong."

"I suppose you're right, but I'm going to get back to work. If you're caught, they might think that I helped you." Hermione's reply was typical; she had always been a stickler for rules.

Sirius smirked. "Who said anything about getting caught? Care to join me?" he invited.

Hermione seemed to be deliberating the issue when Sirius heard Grace leading Malfoy down the corridor. "You can wait in the office just down the hall. Have a seat, and the Minister will be with you shortly. If you'll just follow me…"

"Too late now. You'll have to stay." With that said Sirius grabbed Hermione by the arm and pulled her into the room with him. If she walked back down the corridor, the plan could be ruined.

On Grace's instruction, Malfoy entered the office and took a seat in the chair. After Grace had left the room and joined Sirius and a reluctant Hermione, Sirius took out his wand and whispered a charm. Hermione was not surprised that Grace had allied with Sirius, but Grace seemed startled to find Hermione in on the prank.

Within a matter of seconds, a fake flame had appeared in the corner of the room. The flame was harmless, but it seemed very real, and heat waves emanated from it. The fire began to spread rapidly, and Malfoy began to panic. He hastily tried to move from the chair only to find that he could not.

After considerable effort on Malfoy's part, the chair broke free from the floor, and Malfoy almost entirely disengaged himself from the aforementioned seat. His expensive, luxurious robes were torn in many places, but the chair was still attached firmly to his left arm.

Malfoy seemed terrified at the prospect of being burned alive, but much to his unexpected relief, the blaze merely passed over him, leaving him completely unharmed. Hermione found herself laughing along with Sirius and Grace at the priceless look on his face.

As a parting gift of sorts, Sirius tossed two dung bombs into the room, allowing the three troublemakers to run. After hiding around a corner, they were able to observe the once dignified Lucius Malfoy storming out of the Ministry building, dragging the heavy, antique chair that refused to detach itself from his arm.

Hermione once again joined her two friends in peals of laughter. _That wasn't so bad. I can see why Sirius likes to prank people. I just don't think I'll tell him that._

Once she had fully recovered her sense of reason, Hermione looked at her watch. "We have to go now or we'll be late for the Order meeting," she declared as she started to hurry towards the supply closet that served as the façade for the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix.

Within moments, Hermione entered the Order's domain and walked to the large room in the center of headquarters that was known as the meeting room. Almost everyone was already assembled in the dimly lit room, sitting in heavy, old, wooden chairs around an enormous, round table.

As Hermione was normally one of the first to arrive, it was unusual that she was late. However, the greatest surprise was yet to come.

Sirius followed Hermione into the room, and a shocked silence settled over the Order. Many, including Hestia Jones, Emmeline Vance, and Elphias Dodge seemed frozen in place, unable to react. Dumbledore was, as always, calm and composed, but something about his manner seemed different. "I shouldn'ta had that much rum," Mundungus Fletcher muttered to himself with a slight hiccup, as though seeing a mirage.

Tonks was the first to move. "Sirius!" she shouted, joyously running across the room to fling her arms around her long lost cousin.

Once the Order had been filled in on the story of Sirius' return, Hermione introduced Grace as the new recruit for the Order. Several people had already met her through work at the Ministry, and everyone present found her to be a very agreeable person.

_Things are going so smoothly. I don't remember an Order meeting in the last two years that hasn't involved perpetual arguing. Hmm…where's Snape? _

Just as Hermione began to wonder about the absence of the bad-tempered Potions Master, the door swung open and slammed into the wall with a loud bang. The occupants of the room turned to see Severus Snape stride into the room. Upon noticing Sirius, he looked like a child who had just been told that Christmas was cancelled; no doubt he had received a very unpleasant surprise. However, he reigned in whatever outburst he was tempted to make and continued to walk toward Professor Dumbledore.

When he reached the leader of the Order, he said in a hushed voice, as though trying to avoid excess attention, "I must speak with you immediately, sir, and I think it would be best if the others did not overhear."

Dumbledore promptly led Snape to his office, leaving the other members of the Order in silent speculation. After only a few moments, the two returned, and Dumbledore began to give commands.

"Two unexpected missions have arisen, and we must take action immediately. Molly, Arthur, Emmeline, Elphias, Hestia, Harry, and Charlie, please follow Severus to the outer office. I request that the rest of you join me in the dueling chamber. Ms. Granger, please remain here. I must have a word with you after the groups are given their missions."

Hermione sighed lightly and tried to control her frustration. _Why bother getting my hopes up? I'll always be the one left behind. They don't need me anymore._ Hermione felt useless and a bit jealous of those who were allowed to take part in the missions.

As the others departed to receive their assignments, Hermione sat still in her chair. She had thought that she would eventually become accustomed to staying behind, but lately she had grown restless. After a few minutes of deliberation, she moved toward the dueling chamber. She knew there were two missions about to take place, and she randomly chose one to gain knowledge of by stealth.

Over the past three years, Hermione had remained inactive, had stayed alone at headquarters during missions, but she had never excluded herself from the details of the missions. She had designed and implemented the anti-eavesdropping wards around each and every room in the Order headquarters, and she knew the few flaws in the system. She had discovered the glitches before her injury, and she had begun to research ways to fix them, but after the Order had begun to exclude her, she allowed the flaws to secretly remain, so she could overhear the information that they withheld from her.

Once she was standing outside the wall of the dueling chamber, Hermione whispered a spell. Because her mistake was so minor, even she was only able to catch strains of the discussion beyond the wall. After her eavesdropping was finished, Hermione was able to gather that a fairly large group of Death Eaters had attacked a small village called Darnayshire that consisted mainly of Muggles and Muggleborns. They most likely planned to kill all inhabitants of the village and would succeed if the Order did not stop them.

Hermione's impatience and anger had reached a breaking point. Insulting those who were like her, calling them rude names was hardly worth retaliation, but this time the dark wizards had gone too far. While the majority of magical society would be outraged at such a deed, only another Muggleborn, such as Hermione, could feel as strongly as she did at the moment.

Hermione was not an impetuous person, but for once she allowed impulsiveness to govern her actions. Hermione focused and apparated to Darnayshire to a point that was secluded from everyone else in the village, both enemy and comrade. _This is one mission I'll not be left out of._

When Hermione reappeared, she was standing upon a hill, concealed by a grove of large trees overlooking the village. She steeled herself for battle, drew her wand, and began to walk down the hillside, staying carefully hidden in the shadows cast by the trees. It was now dusk, and Hermione was aware that the dark conditions gave her the advantage of stealth that compensated for her injury.

Halfway down the steep descent, Hermione discerned movement in the foliage ahead. She was aware that she was not alone and decided to creep closer and identify the person near her before hexing whomever it was. Hermione called upon her Auror training to draw steadily nearer without making a sound.

From her vantage point behind a large poplar, she recognized her opponent as Walden MacNair. Hermione perceived that he was alone and quietly sent a stunning spell in his direction. MacNair was caught unaware, and the spell struck him in the chest. With a groan, he slumped to the ground in a heap. Hermione moved forward, and without coming out into the open of the clearing, she conjured cords that bound his wrists and ankles tightly, as well as a gag to prevent him from calling out to any of his comrades.

After pocketing MacNair's wand, Hermione continued to travel toward the heart of Darnayshire. She would return for her prisoner once the battle was over. From that point on the cover provided by the trees became less dense, and Hermione resolved be even more attentive to her surroundings as she progressed toward the battle.

Hermione had walked approximately the distance of a Quidditch field and was not far from the end of the sloping forest when a jet of green light that closely resembled Avada Kedavra caused an explosion on the ground near her feet. Hermione quickly sought better cover behind a nearby oak and turned to glance at her attacker. Through the shadows, she glimpsed the sneering face of Mulciber.

At the same time Hermione cast Expelliarmus, Mulciber cast some curse that she did not recognize. Because the spells had been cast simultaneously, the two beams of light, one blue and one locked together briefly in midair before both of the wands were sent flying into the darkness. Now that the two adversaries were unarmed, Mulciber obviously had the advantage. Hermione was much smaller, as well as being paralyzed in one leg.

Hermione had a feeling that her friends would need her in the battle, as it was a ferocious one, and she had no intention of letting them risk their lives without helping at all. She also knew that it was very unwise to head into combat unarmed, so she could not disapparate to a more safe location until she located her missing wand. However, it was also potentially lethal to remain in the clearing and search for it, as Mulciber was still near her.

As she hesitated, Mulciber disapparated and apparated behind her, roughly grabbing her by the throat. Hermione gritted her teeth and tried to resist. She knew that she was not yet at the point of submission, but Hermione feigned a collapse and lay still on the ground when her opponent dropped her seemingly unconscious body. She slowed her breathing as much as possible to give the illusion of death, which was a challenge because she had just nearly been strangled.

Her deception worked, as Mulciber soon bent over her to check for a pulse, to make sure that she really was dead. As he touched her left wrist, Hermione's right hand tightened almost imperceptibly on her cane, and she quickly thrust the end of the cane at Mulciber's face in a short, powerful jab.

It came into contact with his right eye, and he immediately toppled over backwards, clutching his eye and howling in pain. Hermione used this opportunity to hasten over to the area where her wand had fallen and drop to her knees on the rough earth to feel for her wand. Luckily she found it after only a minute or so and turned to fire a stunning spell at Mulciber, who was approaching with a look of murderous rage on his face.

After he had fallen into unconsciousness, she proceeded to tie him up and retrieve his wand from the ground near the spot where she had located hers. Hermione moved forward quickly because she was afraid that Mulciber's cries of pain at the wound to his eye would attract others to the area.

Hermione traveled onward and stopped on another hill overlooking the battle, once again hidden in the dense trees. The Order members, Sirius among them, seemed outnumbered two to one, and although they fought well, several had already sustained injuries. The air seemed charged with the energy of various spells and curses. Hermione decided that she could assist most from the hill by using the element of surprise.

She cast two more stunning spells in rapid succession and rendered two of the Death Eaters unconscious. Everyone involved in the battle turned to gaze at the hill and wonder whom the mysterious ally of the Order of the Phoenix was.

As she had predicted the battle resumed in a matter of seconds, with several dark curses being fired in her direction. Her guess that a small group of the Death Eaters would break away and charge up the hill toward her was also correct. While they were still at a reasonable distance she disapparated and materialized on the far side of the large, old, four-story house that stood near the battle. Fortunately, the sounds of the fight masked the loud crack that accompanied an apparition.

Hermione soon observed Ron bursting from the front door of the house. "They're not here! This house isn't the one!" he called to Remus, who led the small squadron of Order members, as Dumbledore had gone with the other group on the second mission.

Hermione took this to mean that some hostages still remained in Darnayshire. She realized that although the other members of the order were making a great comeback in the battle, they were still far too preoccupied to search for the captives; that was a task that she must now take upon herself.

Hoping that the next house on the winding road that led through the countryside would be the correct one, Hermione set off towards it. She couldn't risk any more apparitions, so the journey on foot took longer than she liked.

Upon arriving, Hermione cautiously entered the house through the cellar and made her way up a flight of narrow, wooden stairs. Layers of dust covered the apparently derelict house and caused her eyes and throat to sting.

During the next thirty minutes, Hermione thoroughly searched the first, second, and third floors of the decrepit wreck of a home and discovered nothing. She proceeded up a spiral staircase to a locked door that marked the entrance to the fourth floor. Hermione used magic to unlock the door and found herself standing in a wide hallway that led to the attic.

She was very aware of the precarious position that she was now in. Most of the floor had rotted away from many years of neglect and harsh conditions, exposing the unstable beams of the building's framework. Hermione was reminded of a grotesque skeleton lying in wait to claim its victims.

Gingerly, she leaped from one beam to the next until she reached another door at the opposite end of the hall. This was quite a feat, as she had to use the cane to push herself off from one beam to jump to the next, and she almost fell to her death on several instances. Hermione used magic to unlock this door, when she entered the room that lay beyond it, she discovered the Muggles and Muggleborns that had been taken prisoner.

They seemed terrified of her, despite the fact that she was not wearing the black, hooded robes of a Death Eater. "I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to help you get to safety," Hermione reassured. After a slight hesitation, the captives seemed to believe that she was being truthful with them.

There were only five remaining hostages: an elderly man, two middle-aged women, a teenage boy, and a young girl who looked to be about three years old. "We have to leave quickly. Follow me," Hermione instructed.

The captives allowed Hermione to lead them across the attic to the doorway that led into the hall, but they stopped short in fear at the sight of the disintegrated floorboards of the corridor that they needed to cross.

"I can get you across. You'll just have to trust me," Hermione announced. Surprisingly, the small child was the first to step forward.

"Wingardium Leviosa," Hermione said, and the girl was levitated into the air and guided across the perilous passageway. Once all had been safely transported to the other side, Hermione braced herself to make her own way back across the hall. She was relieved that all of the prisoners were from families containing a Muggleborn witch or wizard; things were so much simpler when no memories had to be Obliviated.

However, before Hermione could leap, another Avada Kedavra curse whistled past her head, narrowly missing her. "Go! Run!" she yelled to the others as she turned to face Rodolphus Lestrange.

"Your noble actions won't save you now, Mudblood," he hissed savagely. "Rather than kill you now, I think I'll allow you to watch the death of your friend before you die," Lestrange added with cruel amusement.

With that said, he walked to a narrow stairway that Hermione had not noticed before, and began to ascend to the sloping roof of the house. Without a thought for her own safety, Hermione followed.

When she emerged, she was standing near the edge of the roof struggling to maintain her balance. Upon glancing to her left, Hermione saw Lestrange pointing his wand threateningly at the barely conscious form of Ron Weasley, who had fallen and now lay in a heap on the rough shingles of the old house. _Oh Ron, you may never know how sorry I am about that fight we had. I've missed you since then, and I can't stand the thought of losing you. I'll find a way to make things right again; I just need time. I need to get us off this rooftop and away from Lestrange. Please be okay. Please be okay…_

Hermione raised her wand defiantly in an attempt to save her friend. Lestrange seemed surprised that she would show so much bravado in the face of defeat and trained his wand upon her instead of Ron, much to her relief.

However, Hermione hadn't realized that her exhaustion from the day's ordeal had begun to catch up with her when she attempted to cast a spell; unfortunately, Lestrange was too fast for her.

Hermione was only mildly surprised when he cast Expelliarmus. He and Dolohov shared the same flaw, a certain pleasure in torturing their victims before they killed. Her wand flew toward Lestrange, but he could not reach it and keep his balance on the somewhat slanted rooftop at the same time. The wand now lay only a few feet from Ron, who weakly watched the terrifying scene unfold, unable to be of immediate help to Hermione.

The vengeful Death Eater cast Crucio on Hermione, who then fell over. As she writhed in pain, she came closer and closer to the edge of the roof.

Ron tried to ignore the pain of his wounds as he inched nearer to Hermione's forgotten wand, hand outstretched. Finally, after what seemed like an hour to him, he grasped the wand.

"Stop or I'll kill you," he threatened Lestrange in a low, dangerous voice that seemed uncharacteristic of Ron.

Lestrange, recognizing the seriousness of his predicament, said, "Finite Incantatem," and ended Hermione's agony. Upon feeling the burn of the Dark Mark upon his left forearm a few seconds later, he turned and fled before either Ron or Hermione, who was now lying extremely close to the edge of the rooftop, could react.

Within the next moment, Ron's vision became cloudy, he finally passed out. Because Hermione was unused to such action, her right leg began to throb painfully again, just as it had that day in front of her house. It seemed as though her leg was being stabbed repeatedly with a sharp dagger. She grimaced and involuntarily moved to the right.

Hermione screamed as she plunged over the edge of the roof. She experienced a free fall for only a few seconds before grasping the ledge of the rooftop with her fingers. The force seemed strong enough to rip her arms from their sockets, and she knew that she would not be able to hold on for long. _I'm going to die here. The fall will surely kill me. Ron's unconscious, and there's no one else around to help me. It will take a miracle to save me now._

Thanks for reading another chapter. Please review!

**_JTBJAB:_** Thanks for reviewing again. Please let me know what you think of this chapter.

**_Rane2920072: _**I'm excited, too. It will begin very soon. I just had to write a chapter of action/adventure; I couldn't resist. Thanks for the review.

**_Autumn92685039: _**They have always been my favorite characters, too. I hope you liked the new chapter. Thanks for reviewing.

**_amrawo: _**Thanks for reviewing. Also, thanks for adding Unspeakable to your favorite stories list.

**_kelton: _**Glad you liked Chapter One. Let me know what you think of this chapter. I had wanted to write some action/adventure, and I really enjoyed it. In this chapter and the next, a mystery/suspense plotline will be introduced to Unspeakable, and it will be very important in the rest of the story, as well. Thanks for reviewing.

**_Raven176: _**Thanks for reviewing. I'm glad that you liked the reunion between Sirius and Harry. It was a fun scene to write. There wasn't much Sirius/Hermione interaction in this chapter, but there will be a lot in the next.


	7. Under Fire

A/N: All HP characters, locales, and objects belong to JK Rowling. I am not making any money for writing this story. I, Queen of Alexandria, am writing this fan fiction for fun only.

_Italics _represent Hermione's thoughts. **Bold** represents Sirius' thoughts. Replies to reviewers are located at the end of the chapter. Sorry it took so long for me to update, but I've been very busy lately. I'm hoping to write and post the next few chapters in a more timely fashion, though.

Unspeakable 

Chapter Seven: Under Fire

Hermione clung to the edge of the roof desperately. As each second passed, she could feel her grip loosen. Her left arm hurt terribly, but the pain that coursed through her leg had lessened to a dull, throbbing ache. Hermione's fingers had grown numb from holding on to the ledge, and she could feel blood running down her face. She realized that she must have gotten a cut above her right eye when she fell from the roof. She had not initially been aware of it, but the abrasion had started to sting and bleed. Hermione wished she could wipe the blood from her face, but she had to focus on not falling to her death.

To Hermione, time had slowed. She attempted to pull herself back onto the roof, but she hadn't the strength to move more than a few centimeters toward her goal. Hermione's left arm was nearly useless by now, and she was dangling from the housetop, held almost entirely by her right arm.

Hermione cried out as she slipped a few inches lower. She had at most forty-five seconds preceding the inevitable fall. As she waited for some unlikely miracle, she heard someone running across the rooftop. Hermione became hopeful and called out to the person, "Please help me! I'm hanging from the ledge of the roof!"

"I'm coming, Hermione!" Sirius voice yelled back to her, and his face soon appeared above the ledge of the roof. Sirius knelt and took hold of Hermione's right wrist. "Let go, and I'll pull you onto the roof," he advised.

Hermione hesitated for a couple of seconds. She feared letting go, but she trusted Sirius with her life. Trust overcame fear, and Hermione released the ledge.

Sirius now held Hermione's right hand and began to pull her toward the rooftop. As she drew nearer she weakly lifted her left hand toward him, also. He grasped her other hand, and she began to move steadily upward, closer to the edge. Hermione bit her lip at the shock that traveled down her arm; her left shoulder must have been dislocated in the fall.

"Swing your left leg over the edge," Sirius instructed, and Hermione did so. She was now back atop the house, kneeling on the roof. Because her cane had fallen to the ground below, she could move no further on her own. Hermione was trembling terribly from both the fear of almost plummeting to her death and the weakness of her overly exerted muscles.

Sirius helped her to stand and summoned her cane from the ground below and her wand from the rooftop beside Ron, who was still unconscious. Hermione leaned heavily on Sirius as the two crossed the roof to where Ron lay. Hermione used the sleeve of her now dirty and torn robes to wipe away the blood that ran down her face before she and Sirius apparated with Ron to the backyard of the house near the scene of the battle.

Peering out from behind the corner of the old home, Hermione noticed that the battle was over. Only Remus, Bill, and Tonks remained with two Death Eaters, Jugson and Goyle, bound in ropes and sitting on the grass. As they watched, Bill apparated with the prisoners to the Ministry to hand them over to the Auror Division.

"Remus!" Sirius yelled to alert his friend of his presence. Remus and Tonks turned and were relieved to see that the approaching people were Sirius, Hermione, and Ron rather than the enemy. They were also thankful that all three were still alive.

Tonks came forward to take Ron. She placed a hand on his arm and apparated to St. Mungo's with him. "Everyone else has gone to the Ministry or St. Mungo's. Some of the injuries looked bad, but everyone should be okay," Remus explained. "Sirius, you can take Hermione to St. Mungo's now. I can manage tying up all the loose ends here by myself," he added after noticing Hermione's condition.

Hermione's mind seemed calmer now that she knew all of her friends had survived the fight. The worst part of a battle was always the tense wait at the end, in which the defenders impatiently expected news of the condition of other Order members. Her own wounds didn't present such a pressing need for attention, but to prevent trouble, she would go along to the hospital quietly.

"I stunned Mulciber and MacNair; they're still in the forest. I left Mulciber in the clearing about halfway up the hill, and MacNair is near the top. Both should still be unconscious and tied up. Here are their wands," Hermione said, giving Remus the two wands she had confiscated.

"Good work, Hermione. I'll take them to the Auror Division," he replied. As Remus set off to collect the other prisoners, Sirius and Hermione apparated to St. Mungo's.

The two reappeared in the front hall of the hospital, near the reception desk. They had taken only a few steps when the large double doors of the main entrance burst open behind them, and paramedics hurriedly pushed a stretcher into the building.

From a distance, Hermione was unable to see exactly the victim was, but she could discern that the person had suffered very much and was lucky to be alive. There was blood everywhere, and the victim lay still, barely able to draw breath in such a horrible state. Healers rushed forward to meet the paramedics, and frantic voices reached Hermione and Sirius. "Take her to the intensive care ward immediately…fetch healer Owens…you must hurry or she won't survive…she doesn't stand much of a chance."

_Most likely a dark curse although I'd say she was tortured first._ Hermione was furious. She had spent so many years trying to save people from Voldemort and his followers. She had seen so much in the line of duty that she often felt dead inside. How could the world be a good place when such awful things happened more and more frequently?

What happened next was a severe shock to Hermione. The Order members who had gone on the other mission now entered the building, and a healer turned to speak to Harry. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"She was tortured many different ways, some magical and some nonmagical. None of us can really be sure of all that happened because much of the damage was done before we arrived. An Avada Kedavra that was deflected off a mirror hit her," Harry answered somberly. Hermione had never heard of an instance in which someone was struck by a killing curse that had ricocheted, but she supposed that the misfiring of the jet of green light was the only reason the woman had not died.

Hermione was now running towards the increasingly large group as the stretcher was wheeled away. _Who is it now? Haven't we all suffered enough?_ Hermione was in a panic. She felt as though she couldn't breathe properly. She had to find out the identity of the person, but it was knowledge that she did not enjoy obtaining.

When the healers pushed the nearly dead victim past her, Hermione recognized the woman. She felt as though her heart would surely stop, and her breathing came in short gasps. She was so shocked that tears would not come. _No, no, please no…She was in hiding. How could they have found her?_ Once again, Hermione's world had come crashing down on her, except she did not have the will to rebuild it this time. The woman lying on the stretcher, tortured and almost murdered in the Death Eater attack, was her mother.

"Will she live?" Hermione inquired desperately as she attempted to follow the healers.

"Stand aside," one of them ordered curtly, pushing Hermione out of the way. She was left to watch as Eleanor Granger was rushed through the corridors of the hospital to some unknown room in the intensive care ward.

Shock soon turned to fury, and Hermione rounded on the members of the Order of the Phoenix assembled in the hall. _Dumbledore knew. He knew, and he didn't tell me, didn't give me the opportunity to go on the mission, to stop this from happening._

"You knew, damn you! Why didn't you tell me? I had the right to know! I could have done something. I would have died to save my only remaining family if I had to. It wasn't your place to keep this from me!" she shouted at him, hurling various objects at the walls, relishing the sound of them smashing against the stone. Hermione was out of control, but she couldn't have cared less.

"Ms. Granger, you must understand that…" Dumbledore began, looking as shaken as Hermione had ever seen him.

"I don't need excuses. I don't need to be reminded that I'm a worthless and crippled. Excuses won't save anyone. You should have let me go on the mission. The Order would have been well rid of me; I would have been the one to be cursed to death tonight," Hermione raged, bracing herself against a small table as she grew weak from injury and exhaustion.

Sirius moved toward the distraught Hermione, but a healer reached her first and led her away to a hospital ward. To an observer, she might have seemed stoic as the healer applied stinging disinfectant to her cuts and bruises, and mended her dislocated shoulder with a rather painful spell, but her stillness was truly brought on by a mixture of sadness and apathy. Hermione's troubles had reached an intense breaking point, and yet she had become listless and distanced, feeling that she deserved whatever pain she was forced to endure. The healer soon finished and left her in solitude.

As Hermione lay on the uncomfortable hospital bed, she heard the departing healer say, "You may go in and see her now, Mr. Black."

Sirius walked into the small, stark white room and sat in the chair beside the bed. Wordlessly, he held her hand, and Hermione was glad he was there. She most likely would have lashed out at anyone else. Sirius was really the only one who understood her at the moment. He didn't offer excuses, worry, or pity, just comfort.

After a few moments passed, Hermione spoke. "I need to see my mum, Sirius," she said, her voice choked with concern.

"I'll go talk to the healers. Be right back," Sirius said, reluctantly letting go of Hermione and crossing the room to the hallway outside, in search of a healer.

Sirius walked through the corridors until he reached a small office, enclosed by stone and many large glass windows. He entered through an open doorway and approached the nurses' desk.

The nurse looked up upon noticing Sirius. "Yes?" she politely inquired.

"How is Mrs. Eleanor Granger? Her daughter would like to see her."

"The healers are still with her. There hasn't been a report on her condition as of yet. As the healers are still at work, I'm afraid no visitors will be allowed." A frustrated look crossed Sirius' face, and the nurse added, "Sorry," as he walked from the office.

Sirius made his way back toward Hermione's room, dreading breaking the news to her. However, when he reached the corridor her room was located on, he found her arguing adamantly with a healer in the middle of the hallway.

"I have to see her," Hermione said, pleadingly.

"Ms. Granger, there are no visitors allowed yet. The team of healers is still with her, and they have not notified us of her condition," the healer replied. His voice was monotonous as he completed what had undoubtedly become a repetitive task in the harsh years of war, discussing a patient with a distraught relative.

"Please…She's my mother," Hermione attempted to draw some sign on compassion from the man.

"No. Now if you don't go home, I may have to rethink my decision to release you from this hospital. You need rest," he answered insistently. After a few seconds he added in a more sympathetic tone, "You may come back tomorrow morning. I'm sure they will allow you to see her then."

Hermione unwillingly trudged down the corridor toward Sirius, still too startled to even cry. They apparated home and reappeared in the front hall of Hermione's house. Hermione walked listlessly up the stairs to her room and fell on the bed, still wearing her torn robes and looking a mess. She was too tired to move, but she was also too upset to sleep, so she compromised by deciding to just lie down for a while.

At two thirty in the morning, Hermione began to feel restless and reached for her cane. She walked through the old, Victorian house in a daze, eventually choosing to go to the balcony.

There was a large balcony just outside of the living room, and it was a place Hermione often went when she needed to clear her mind. She loved it because it provided such a beautiful view of the sky and the surrounding English countryside. A wrought iron table with a glass top and two matching chairs with scarlet cushions sat on one side of the balcony. On the other side was Hermione's favorite seat, a swing that completed the matching set of furnishings.

Hermione sank down onto the swing, finally able to cry. Once the tears had come, they showed no signs of abating. _It's all my fault. This happened again because of me, because of what I am, and I had no power to stop it. I'm not only a danger to myself; I'm a danger to all of my friends and family. How can they forgive me? Mum may not survive because of me._ No matter how hard she tried, Hermione could not dispel the image of her mum being brought into St. Mungo's, scarcely alive and covered in blood.

Sirius had awoken and was going to the kitchen to get a drink of water. As he walked through the darkened hallway, he heard sobbing, and abandoning his plan of getting a drink, he rushed to the living room. Upon entering, he noticed that the room seemed to be unoccupied, but the doors leading out onto the balcony were open, allowing a cool breeze to permeate the house. He walked to the balcony and saw Hermione sitting on the swing and crying.

A few seconds later, Sirius joined Hermione on the swing and put his arms around her. Hermione was surprised, and her first instinct was to pull away. _How can he hug someone so awful as me? I have to leave him before something bad happens to him, too. _However, Hermione thought that it was comforting to be so close to Sirius as he rubbed her back and whispered that everything would be okay, so she chose to stay.

"We'll go to St. Mungo's first thing in the morning, and you'll see your mum. She'll be alright."

"I hope so. I couldn't bear to lose her because she's the only family I have left. It's my fault they attacked her, just like it's my fault dad was killed." Hermione mentally berated herself for letting slip what had happened years ago, but a part of her thought it felt good to finally tell someone about it.

"Because I'm a Muggleborn, they are after my family, as well as me. Before I got my injury, there was a Death Eater raid on a Muggle shopping complex near Christmas. It was late, and Dad had gone to do some last minute shopping when it happened. They used Crucio many times. They made the poor people suffer before finally using Avada Kedavra and ending it all. There were no survivors," Hermione explained.

She continued with her story after a slight pause. "I was furious. A few weeks later there was another raid, but the Order had knowledge of this one. Snape had heard about it and informed us, so we were prepared. It had taken me a great deal of time, but I discovered that Rabastan Lestrange was responsible for my father's murder, and so I went to the scene of the raid with revenge in mind. We fought, and I inadvertently killed him. I cast Expelliarmus with such rage that he wasn't just disarmed. He was pushed down a flight of stone steps, and his neck was broken in the fall; he died almost instantly. Even though I hadn't done it on purpose I expected it to feel good, to bring closure, but it didn't. I felt horrible, and it took months to recover, but from then until my injury, the Death Eaters left my mother alone. Now though, they know that I am not at all formidable in battle, and they tried to kill her tonight. If it wasn't for me, both of my parents would be alive and well."

"It's not your fault. Voldemort and his followers are responsible for all of it. There is no one person in the entire world that could stop it all, and you certainly aren't useless. You saved us all today at the battle in Darnayshire, and you captured two Death Eaters. Your parents are probably very proud of you," Sirius said with certainty.

His sureness lessened Hermione's doubt, as well as her guilt. She was relieved that he didn't want to leave now that he knew what had happened to her in the years of his absence. Hermione felt drowsy now; the fatigue of the day's events was coursing through her, and she leaned against Sirius, resting her head on his shoulder and considering whether or not she would be able to sleep.

Sirius seemed to read her mind and said, "You should get some rest. Tomorrow we'll have to wake up early."

"I don't think I'll ever be able to sleep again," Hermione concluded aloud.

"You know, I said the same thing once," Sirius reminisced. "In my first year, I made a bet with James, Remus, and Peter. We decided to see who could stay awake the longest, and the winner of the bet got the entire pile of Honeydukes' candy we had been saving. Peter was the first to lose; we caught him taking a nap later that evening. The competition ended on day two. Remus decided that even chocolate wasn't a good enough incentive to stay awake for days and dozed off during History of Magic. By our last class of the day, which was Potions, I was so tired that I couldn't stand it. I fell asleep and went face first into my cauldron of color changing solution. Luckily, it had cooled, but for the rest of the day, my face switched from green to orange and back again. James won the bet, but he got such a stomachache from eating all the candy by himself that he had to go to the hospital wing. Pomfrey was livid with him, too."

Hermione smiled, somehow feeling that it wasn't wrong of her to do so. The image of Sirius as a child pulling such a stunt was rather amusing. She laughed as she realized that he was right; taking naps was inevitable. She fell asleep in the swing beside Sirius with hope that maybe things would be okay in the morning.

Sirius was momentarily happy as he gazed at the sleeping Hermione. It was good to see her smile again. His thoughts were soon interrupted, though, by a cold wind that swept past, and he picked Hermione up and carried her back into the house.

Sirius wandered through the house with some difficulty, as it was pitch black, and he was currently without a wand, but he eventually managed to reach Hermione's room. He had set Hermione on her bed, pulled the covers around her, and turned to go back to his own room when she shifted in her sleep and closed her fingers around Sirius' hand.

Sirius stopped in his tracks. He didn't think it was possible to free his hand from her grip without waking her, which was something that he didn't intend to do, but he also hoped to return to his room and go to sleep. Sirius decided to sit on the bed beside her and wait.

Half an hour later, Sirius was still waiting, and he was becoming progressively sleepier each minute.Unwittingly, he began to drowse and slumped over to lie next to Hermione.

Hermione woke several hours later, still not entirely alert and very determined to shower and make herself more presentable. She started to get out of bed but found that she couldn't. Someone was in the way, and the same someone had an arm around her waist, making it difficult for her to move.

Hermione looked to her left and noticed Sirius, still asleep and snoring slightly. She laughed; she had no idea that he snored, and she found it quite funny. _Sirius is actually very good looking. Wait, I can't be having these thoughts. He's my friend and Harry's godfather, way too old for me. Hmm, well, not anymore, but still off limits._

Hermione reluctantly got up from the other side of the bed and picked out clothing for the day before heading for the shower. Because she was anxious to return to St. Mungo's, she completed her morning routine with unusual haste and was on her way to find breakfast and wake Sirius fifteen minutes later.

Halfway down the now well-lit corridor, Hermione heard an odd noise that seemed to be coming from the living room. It sounded as though someone had caused a rather loud explosion, and Hermione hurried to the aforementioned room to discover the source of the commotion.

When she arrived in the living room, she saw Sirius talking to someone whose head had appeared in her fireplace. "Yes, she's awake. I'll go get her now," he was saying.

Sirius pivoted toward the doorway only to collide with Hermione. "It's a John Harris from the Department of Mysteries. He says it's urgent," he informed her.

_What could have possibly happened now? I can't imagine things getting much more complicated._ "Sir?" she answered curiously as she came to stand in front of the fireplace.

"Ms. Granger, I think you should report to my office as soon as possible. I have something of the utmost importance and secrecy to discuss with you," Harris announced gravely.

"But sir, I have to go see my mother. She's in St. Mungo's," Hermione meekly protested.

Harris' reply was foreboding of something ominous. "I have been notified about your mother, and I'm truly sorry to hear about what happened to her. You shall be granted paid leave until you manage to sort things out. Do not feel rushed to return to work. However, I have made a rather startling discovery, and I must speak with you. I won't take up much of your time, I promise."

"I'll be right there, sir," Hermione dutifully replied as Harris vanished in a puff of green smoke. Hermione then apparated to the Ministry and traveled to the Department of Mysteries as quickly as possible.

Her apprehension mounted as she made her way down the main corridor and took a right into the side corridor that led to her boss' office. She knew that Harris was a very kind man and would only interrupt her at such a time if there were no other option.

Hermione entered the office and took a seat in one of the two chairs positioned in front of the large desk. When she looked up she was surprised to see Dumbledore also present in the room.

Harris wasted no time in getting down to business. "Ms. Granger, the night before last, an unknown employee of the Department broke into the Unspeakable personal records archive and took your file. We believe that this is how the Death Eaters found your mother, so we have also been led to believe that there is a spy within the Department. The spy has committed no other known acts of espionage, and I do not know if he or she can be identified on the limited knowledge we have, but the Order and I will do our best to located the person responsible. I thought that you should be immediately aware of such a threat."

Hermione was stunned, but she had found renewed vigor for her work. _I have to stay with the Department. I won't resign under any circumstance. This spy will be caught and will have hell to pay. Staying is the only way to solve the case._

"I plan to continue working as an Unspeakable despite the danger of the situation. I feel that it is the only way I can help to apprehend the spy, and I will do whatever is necessary to see that the person is brought to justice," Hermione bravely announced.

What came next was also unexpected for her. "I speak on behalf of the entire Order when I declare my support of your decision. We have all underestimated you, but I believe that you are still a valuable asset in such difficult times, Ms. Granger. The Department of Mysteries is lucky to have such a fine Unspeakable," said Dumbledore.

As Hermione said farewell to the two men and left the office, she felt confident. It was amazing really how one could find courage at such a time. Hermione felt that she now had a direction to proceed in, and she refused to stop until she accomplished her objective: find the traitor.

Thanks again for reading. Please review!

**_Raven176:_** Thanks for reviewing. The battle scenes were very fun for me, as well as the cliffhanger ending. I was planning all along for Sirius to save her because it just wouldn't be as interesting any other way. It was great to hear from you again.

**_moonyNZ:_** Thanks for the review. I hope you liked this chapter, also. I just started reading your story, and I think it's very good.

**_JTBJAB:_** You were thinking along the same lines as me about Sirius saving Hermione. It's great to get another review from you, and I hope you liked the rescue scene.

**_Rane2920072:_** Thanks for reviewing again. This chapter was fun to write because of the Sirius/Hermione interaction, and although there will be some upcoming obstacles for the happy couple, there will be more romance, too.

**_vixen519:_** Glad you liked the prank. It was actually based on a true story. I know someone who once put glue in his teacher's chair, and that's where I got the idea. I really appreciate your review.

**_Adnama: _**It's good to hear that you're interested in Unspeakable. Enjoy the rest of the story, and thanks for reviewing.

**_EnchantingFreak:_** lol, true. Glad you like the story. Thanks for reviewing.


	8. Spain

A/N: All HP characters, locales, and objects belong to JK Rowling. I am not making any money for writing this story. I, Queen of Alexandria, am writing this fan fiction for fun only.

I am so sorry for not updating sooner. Mountains of schoolwork, final exams, and several cases of the cold have kept me from my story, but I have no intention of abandoning Unspeakable.

I now have a beta reader. Thanks to Fursee3 for doing such a great job of helping me with my story. My awesome beta reader has already found a small mistake with the fic, and I'll be editing it soon, hopefully. Sirius would now only be six years older than Hermione rather than eleven.

_Italics_ will now represent the thoughts of all characters in general rather than just Hermione's thoughts.

Unspeakable Chapter 8: Spain 

Hermione hurried from the Ministry building, not taking the time to notice anyone or anything as she stormed through the corridors. She was losing her composure with every second that passed as she rushed home. After exiting through the large double doors of the main entrance, she found a secluded spot on the dilapidated street and Apparated home.

Once Hermione had reappeared in her living room, her rampant thoughts managed to catch up with her. There was someone out there who wanted to make her suffer until she couldn't suffer any more before ending her life. She was not sure of the exact reason why, though. It seemed odd that she was the target of such a plot instead of Harry.

She was certain that she should be the one to tell Sirius, as being near her placed him in danger, but a part of her was scared. Hermione had never been in such a precarious situation before, and that was quite a statement considering all that she had done in the line of duty. Although she seemed so sure of herself, Hermione had always had doubts, and if she had not been so stressed, she would have realized that many of the thoughts running through her mind were nothing but white noise.

Yet, Hermione was worried that Sirius would leave her. Her own mind seemed to be tormenting her as it conjured up an image of him saying that he was going to find somewhere to stay before walking out the door. After all, she wasn't really such a close friend to him, was she? He had known Remus since they were children, and Harry was his godson, but what place in Sirius' life did she hold?

Hermione sank down heavily into an armchair and leaned forward to rest her head in her hands. She took a few deep breaths and tried to calm down; she had to dispel such thoughts if she was to face her problems. Once Hermione had relaxed a bit, she realized that she should not have worried about Sirius leaving her; he was the most fiercely loyal person she knew. If she were going to worry about him, his brash, reckless nature and willingness to do anything to protect those he cared about would be the reasons for concern.

However, there would be no time to talk now because Hermione needed to get to St. Mungo's and see her mother. Resolving to discuss the dilemma with Sirius later, she walked up the stairs to find him restlessly pacing around his room, seemingly lost in thought. "We have to leave for St. Mungo's now," Hermione said almost calmly.

Sirius couldn't help but wonder about the emergency situation at the Department, but he knew that Hermione was anxious to leave and would tell him about it later, so he Apparated just seconds after she disappeared.

Hermione and Sirius arrived in the main entrance hall of St. Mungo's with a clear view of the reception room. Normally, the hospital was somewhat hectic, but today, there couldn't have been more chaos if someone had released a herd of rampaging, wild hippogriffs. Alarms sounded, and bright red sparks gave the many rooms of the hospital a strange glow as the nurse in charge of the shift worked hastily to shut down the alarm system.

When someone placed a hand on her arm, Hermione gasped and quickly turned to find Minerva McGonagall standing behind her. "Ms. Granger, there has been a false alarm, but the Order has already moved your mother to a safer place. I'm pleased to be able to tell you that she is recovering nicely," her former professor announced with a small smile of encouragement to break the tension of the moment. "Follow me," she added as she moved toward a chamber just off the main corridor.

With a heart full of happiness and relief, Hermione obeyed. It felt as though a weight had been lifted from her shoulders, and she couldn't wait to see her mother again.

The room she and Sirius had been led to was large and currently darkened. In the dim light from dusty windows, Hermione could discern a round table in the middle of the room. McGonagall took them to the end of the room and stopped in front of a fireplace. Using her wand, she lit a fire before taking a small green velvet bag from her pocket.

"The two of you will be flooing to a small village just outside of Barcelona, Spain to a house that Grace's great-uncle left to her. The name of the house is la Solar Luna. The Order will be using the house on occasion, and your mother will be staying there until it is safe for her to return to England. I will not be going with you, though, because my niece had a baby a few days ago, and I have to leave for Norway to spend the week with her," she explained, and with that said, McGonagall handed Hermione the bag containing the floo powder and Disapparated.

Hermione opened the bag and took a small handful of the sparkling green powder. Stepping closer to the fire, she threw the dust into the flames and stepped inside the fireplace with a yell of, "la Solar Luna!"

After about a minute of the familiar but disorienting sensation of traveling through the Floo Network, she fell through the correct fireplace. Because her departure from the fireplace lacked any sort of grace or coordination, Hermione lost her balance, but fortunately, she fell onto a large and rather comfortable sofa. She had landed in a sitting room furnished in a deep shade of green and expensive-looking mahogany. The room had once been grand, but now it seemed a mere shadow of its formerly exquisite self. It was evident that the house had not been lived in for years.

As Sirius came hurtling through the fireplace, Grace rushed over to Hermione and helped her up. "I'm so happy you're finally here," she cheerfully said to her friend while Hermione took out her wand and busied herself with removing the soot from her clothes and the sofa that she had crashed into.

"Where's my mother?" Hermione asked, as she took her coat off and hung it on a coat stand she had noticed in the hallway just outside the living room.

"She's in the upstairs bedroom, the one on the east wing. She's been asleep since we brought her here," Grace answered, pointing toward the aforementioned part of the large house. Without further ado, Hermione set off for the east wing to find her mother.

Walking through the upstairs corridor, she noticed a door that was opened a bit and peered inside as she passed. There she saw her mother sleeping peacefully in a four-poster bed, looking healthier, as her bruises and cuts were nearly mended, and a bit of color was chasing the pallor from her face. Such a hopeful sight restored Hermione's spirits slightly.

After Grace walked off to the kitchen to get a drink, Hermione turned to Sirius. "I have to talk to you about what I found out today at the Department," she said quietly, taking him by the arm and walking into the hall in search of a more private place to talk. She didn't want anyone, even Grace, to overhear.

She hastily tried several doors before deciding that third room in the adjoining hallway would suffice. "Lumos," Hermione whispered, lighting her wand in order to see in the pitch-black chamber.

After casting the thin beam of light throughout her unfamiliar surroundings, she discovered that she was in the library. _I really must come back here later when I have the time to spare. There are so many old books. Grace's great-uncle must have been a collector._

Sirius sat in one of the old, brown leather chairs, and Hermione took the seat nearest him. "This morning, Harris told me that there's a spy in the Department. The spy broke into the Unspeakable records archive two nights ago and took my file. Harris believes that this is how my mother was found and that I'm the one the traitor's after. There are no leads as to who the spy is, though," she whispered.

Sirius was silent for a moment, as a worried but pensive look crossed his face. "I'm almost certain the Death Eaters are behind this, but something does seem off about the entire thing. I'm not sure what they're playing at, but you should be careful. They're damn cowards, the lot of them, but they can be dangerous. Keep as many secrets as you can, and don't let anyone see that they've hit a nerve with you." After a few seconds of silence elapsed, Sirius added cynically, "That's the first thing I learned about surviving the most ancient and not so noble House of Black."

Hermione was about to speak when she heard Grace walking through the hallway. "Hermione, where are you? It's time for lunch, and there's paella!" Hermione extinguished the light from her wand, and she and Sirius walked quickly and quietly to the door.

The two crept from the library, hoping to go unnoticed, but they were taken by surprise immediately after leaving the darkened room. "There you are! I see you've found the library, but I just can't imagine what you'd want to go there for. It' s so dark and…_ohhh…_" Grace rambled on, a look of realization dawning on her as she continued to misconstrue the entire scenario.

"It's really not what it looks like," an embarrassed Hermione tried to explain, but she grew quiet upon recalling that she shouldn't tell the real reason she and Sirius were locked in a dark, abandoned room.

"Twenty galleons says that you two were snogging already," Grace teased in an amused whisper as she proceeded to drag a speechless Hermione toward the kitchen. Yet again, Hermione was taken aback at how much things had changed. _Not that I would mind the snogging, but if someone had brought this up years ago, I'd have just looked at them like they had gone round the twist. Besides, in the past, I was never one to be suspected of going off in search of an abandoned room or a broom closet._

During her school years and time as an Auror, Hermionehad always been a workaholic. She hadn't partied much at all, and on the few occasions that she had, someone else, usually Ron or Harry, had dragged her into it. Her work was so consuming that she had never had a thriving social life, and she had lost several boyfriends over the years when they had insisted that she spent so much time slaving away at some project or another that they rarely saw her. Spending time around people who appreciated humor and excitement, such as Sirius and Grace, was definitely a refreshing change at times.

She followed her two friends down a spiraling staircase to the kitchen, trailing contemplatively behind them. Hermione had entered a state of focus; the latest developments in the war were teasing her mind, and she was determined to figure out the nagging mystery that sparked her curiosity so very much.

Hermione accepted a plate of paella from Grace when they reached the kitchen, a large, rectangular room filled with dark, wooden cabinets that looked as antique as the rest of the house. Hermione had never before tried the spicy Spanish meal, but she soon found that it was wonderful.

After resolving to go into town for a while with the intent to explore her new surroundings, Hermione ate quickly. Once she had finished, she announced her plan. "While I wait for Mother to wake up, I think I'll go to into the village for a bit. I'm curious about it, and I think it would be a good idea to have a feel for the place." Hermione had learned as an Auror that it was always prudent to familiarize oneself with one's surroundings, as a need for such knowledge could arise suddenly and unexpectedly.

"Sounds fun. I used to love visiting the town when I was younger. My family would stay here sometimes, and it was so different from anywhere I'd been before. I'd go with you, but I'm really tired. Maybe tomorrow," Grace said. Hermione couldn't blame her for taking a rain check, as she had been the one to receive an assignment from the Order the night before and probably hadn't gotten home until sometime near the break of dawn. Grace's frequent yawns and the circles under her dark eyes made her weariness evident.

"I'd go, but I have to go to the fireplace and talk to Kingsley. He said it was something important," Sirius said, looking vaguely disappointed at being deprived of an opportunity to go to the village with Hermione.

"Should I stay, then?" Hermione inquired.

"No, he only said he needed to speak to me. Go have fun, and I'll tell you how things went later," Sirius answered.

Hermione made her way down the hall to the main entrance, a tall, ornate door constructed of dark mahogany, stopping only once to retrieve her coat from the stand she had placed it on earlier. However, once she had set foot outside the house, she was aware that such a heavy coat would not be necessary. Despite the fact that it was mid-November, there was only a slight chill in the air, so after going back inside la Solar Luna to borrow a sweater from Grace, Hermione left for the village.

To her left, she could see sloping green hills that leveled out in the distance to reveal what appeared to be a crowded city. In front of her, there were more of the beautiful hills, sloping down to the sea. Hermione could hear the sounds of the ocean, and she could see the birds as they circled above the waves, sometimes swooping down to skim the water's surface.

La Solar Luna was positioned in a mountainous area near the coast. It sat high upon a knoll, overlooking the picturesque scene. There were few neighbors and none very close, which gave the grand, old house a solitary air.

To Hermione's right, there began a small earthen path that wound through the hills. It led through both the valleys that lay between the slopes and the steep inclines that were so numerous in the vicinity. In one of the larger valleys, the trail ended abruptly at the edge of the small village that was Hermione's destination.

As the village wasn't too far, Hermione decided that even for someone encumbered with the necessity of a cane, the walk was feasible. She spent the next half hour traversing the path and found, much to her delight, that the exquisite scenery did a fine job of distracting her from her troubles.

Upon arriving in the village, the first thing Hermione saw was a colorful wooden sign that bore the name of the town: Mar Azul. The second thing that was noticeable was the age of the town. All of the buildings were very old, but they had remained well kept through the years, and the architecture reminded Hermione of a picture of Barcelona's Gothic Quarter that she had once seen in a book.

Many different two-story buildings lined the narrow streets of Mar Azul. A mixture of houses and shops faced the town center, and to the east Hermione could see the bright blue sea that sparkled in the sunlight. The village was strikingly beautiful.

Hermione decided to browse through a few of the stores. Obviously, she would not have time to explore the entire town, but before the time to depart came, she hoped to return. Hermione figured that Sirius would like Mar Azul because tropical birds had carried most of the letters he had sent to Harry during his time as a wanted man on the run from the Ministry, and she had always assumed that he spent as much time as possible in the Caribbean and places of the like, with a view of the sky and warm weather year round.

The first store on the left looked like a nice enough place to start. Hermione could tell that "la Ropería" apparently meant clothing store and decided to go inside. Her Spanish was nowhere near perfect, but she did know a few words and was confident that she could say something rational should the need arise.

"Hola!" A middle-aged woman behind the counter greeted Hermione as soon as she walked in, and after returning the greeting, Hermione began to look at the clothing in the store. The clothes were of the Muggle world, colorful, and stylish. She amused herself for a while by looking at the various garments until she came to a corner of the shop and saw a dress.

Hermione had never been one to try overly hard with her appearance unless the occasion was special, but the dress caught her eye, and she wanted to buy it. It was wine colored and stopped just above the knee with thin straps across the shoulders. Black beads formed designs at the hemlines of the dress, and it ruffled slightly at the bottom. Hermione knew that sooner or later, there would be an occasion to dress up, but she couldn't think of one at the moment. However, wanting to bring back a few things from Spain, she bought the dress.

Feeling as if she had indulged in shopping a bit too much, Hermione exited the store and stopped outside to purchase only a few pictures of the town from a nearby shop before slipping behind a building to shrink the items with a spell, so they would fit neatly into her pocket. She had just begun walking in the direction of the path that led back to la Solar Luna when someone stopped beside her and said, "Hermione, they never told me that you would be arriving so soon. Great to see you."

Hermione turned to see Bill Weasley. "It's great to see you, too. How long are you staying for this time?" she said as she hugged her friend.

"I should be here in Mar Azul for another week or so before I go back to London. I don't know how long they'll keep me there. I was working in Greece on one of Gringotts' new operations when Dumbledore owled to tell me that the Order had a mission for me."

Bill had become one of her close friends after the accident. He was unconventional and adventurous enough to be one of the few, along with Remus, who supported her in her decision to remain as involved in the war effort as she possibly could, and she appreciated it. However, in the last year and a half, Bill had been so busy traveling around the world on business for either the Order or Gringotts that she rarely saw him anymore. He had only returned to Order headquarters a week ago, and the two friends hadn't yet had the opportunity to talk.

Remembering the last letter she had received from Bill, Hermione asked, "So, have you asked Fleur yet?

Bill remained silent, and an odd look crossed his face, so she thought that maybe his nerves had gotten the better of him, and he hadn't proposed after all. "You did ask her, right?"

"I never got the chance. She left me for some bloke in Cairo," he said wearily.

Hermione felt guilty to be the one to bring such a painful subject to light. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything."

"You don't have to apologize to me, Hermione. I mean, I never exactly told you about it, did I?" Bill said with a wry smile.

"That's enough about me. I want to hear about you," he added.

"I guess you've heard about my new job by now. Being an Unspeakable has completely changed everything for me."

"I'm happy for you. You're probably one of the best already. How did Ron take the news?"

"Worse than I thought. He, Harry, and I had a row. I talked to Harry, and we worked things out. I was going to talk to Ron, but with Darnayshire and the attack on mother, I didn't get much of a chance. I suppose saving each others' lives is a good sign, though."

"Ron's almost completely healed already. The healers are having a real time putting up with him now."

Hermione laughed. If Ron was well enough to cause trouble for the healers, then it was certain that he would be okay.

"What's that?" she asked pointing toward the town square. She and Bill had been walking for a few minutes, and now Hermione could see a small platform being set up in the plaza; the myriad of decorations that were being put up also attracted her attention.

Bill smiled. "The platform is for the musicians. Every now and then, the village has fiestas in the plaza. I've heard they're fun, so I'm going to be there tomorrow night. Everyone here loves to celebrate; I don't think there's even a holiday that the fiesta is being thrown for. They all just love to dress up and enjoy the music, the food, and the dancing. I think Britain could really learn something from them."

"I might come, too if I have time, but I really have to be getting back to the Manor."

Hermione had just turned to walk away when Bill called out to her. "Fred says to tell Sirius that the lacewing flies only caused half the explosion he was hoping for."

She could only imagine what that meant. She had no doubt that Sirius was helping them with ideas for their joke shop, as he found pranks just as amusing as they did. Hermione had eventually given up on trying to reform the twins and even admitted that some of their pranks were funny.

Hermione was smiling as she began the journey back to la Solar Luna. She had found an occasion to wear her new dress.

The sound of shattering glass startled Sirius as he walked through the upstairs corridor. The noise seemed to come from Hermione's mother's room, so without delay, he rushed to see what had happened.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to break it, but…" Mrs. Granger stammered nervously upon seeing Sirius. A glass of water had fallen from the bedside table, and now shards of glass drifted through a puddle of water that was quickly spreading across the hardwood floor.

"It's no big deal," Sirius replied nonchalantly as he used a spell to clean the water from the floor. "Reparo," he commanded, pointing his wand at the broken glass.

Mrs. Granger watched in amazement as the fragments rose from the floor and while hovering in midair, fitted themselves neatly back together again. No matter how many times Hermione had shown her simple magic spells over the years, she was still amazed at the sight of something so extraordinary. She also took the repair of the glass as a sign that she was among friends. The people who had attacked her would hardly be so polite.

"Who are you?" Mrs. Granger asked suddenly.

Thinking she had sounded abrupt and rude, Hermione's mother continued, "Well, what I meant to say is thank you for your help, but I'm a bit confused. I don't think Hermione's ever introduced us before. I also have no idea where I am right now." Her voice still sounded hoarse from a day's worth of disuse.

"I'm Sirius Black, an old friend of Hermione's. I work for the Order of the Phoenix. After the incident the other night, the Order brought you here to la Solar Luna in Spain. It's just outside of Barcelona. Hermione and I arrived this morning, and we'll be staying for a few days. Hermione is in town now, but she'll be home soon."

Mrs. Granger deemed his answer acceptable. She remembered Sirius Black, but Hermione hadn't mentioned him in years. How could she forget him? The first time she saw him had been on the evening news when the anchorwoman had shown his picture and announced that he was armed and highly dangerous and had just broken out of prison. Then, later that year, her daughter had explained to her that he was a wizard and had told her the true story of Sirius Black. Until the end of Hermione's fifth year, Mrs. Granger had heard stories about Sirius along with all the other people Hermione had met, but after that point, he was never mentioned again. It was all very strange in her opinion.

"I thought you would be a bit older, closer to my age than to Hermione's," she confessed.

"I once was," Sirius answered, pausing for a moment before continuing as Mrs. Granger gave him a confused look.

"Thirteen years ago, I was in an accident that left me trapped in a very unusual place. Everyone thought I had died. Not long ago, Hermione found the truth, and because of her, I could return. Because of the magic of the accident, I didn't age for thirteen years." Sirius gave the simplified version of the story because he did not want Hermione's mother any more involved in the violent melee of war than she already was, and any further connection to the Department of Mysteries certainly wouldn't help matters.

"Would you do something for me?" Mrs. Granger asked.

"Yeah, I'll try my best," Sirius responded.

"Watch after Hermione. She's always been so determined to look after everyone she cares about and to right all the wrongs, and during this war, that's what I'm afraid of. Since her injury, I've been even more worried. I wouldn't stand the way of her decisions, but sometimes she doesn't realize that she had more to deal with than she can handle alone. I can't help her the way I used to when she was a child. In this magical world she belongs to, all I can do is stand by and look on at every disaster. Please just watch after her."

Mrs. Granger had a feeling that of all the witches and wizards she had met, Sirius Black was the one she could trust to look after her daughter. It was a vague feeling that she couldn't quite place, but something about the situation seemed right.

"I'd do anything for Hermione," Sirius said as Mrs. Granger settled back in her blankets and pillows for another nap, her mind more at ease.

Something about this talk with Hermione's mother had left Sirius more determined to take action on a point that had been bothering him lately. He hadn't voiced his suspicions, but he didn't think that the Order, including Hermione, knew Grace well enough to trust her so much as of yet. It wasn't that he didn't like Grace. She was nice enough, but at one time, Peter had also been nice enough to evade suspicion, and precious lives were the cost of that mistake.

_There's one way to find out._ Sirius focused for a moment and Disapparated.

When Sirius reappeared, he marveled at how begrimed the small alley had become in the years since his last visit. _Not that it could have gotten too much worse._

The shadier magical side of Barcelona had never been a pretty sight by any means, but now it was absolutely horrid. The buildings of the area had fallen past disrepair; Sirius was wary of entering any of them for fear the floors and walls would collapse at a slight touch. Trash overran the bins that sat in the alleyway, and several people could be seen lying on the pavement sleeping off the effects of too much firewhiskey and who knew what else.

The first and only other time Sirius had seen the area was during his two years on the run. He had been in need of some weapons of the magical variety and decided to make a very hasty stop, as he was leery of who or what could be lurking in every dark corner of the place. He hadn't thought that any city could possibly contain such an eyesore, but tucked far away from the prying eyes of Muggles and most respectable wizarding folk lay the magical underground.

Sirius quickly strode toward the small building at the end of the street and pushed open the rickety door. He began to cough almost immediately as several decades' worth of dust started to fill his lungs.

It took a moment, but after Sirius had regained his composure, he walked toward a battered wooden counter at the front of the store. All around the small, dimly lit chamber, glass bottles with potions, some ordinary and some of the uncommon variety, sat on shelves.

An older man with long, unkempt gray hair and a scar running the length of his face approached the counter. "What can I get for you?" he asked in a rough, rasping voice.

"The smallest bottle of Veritiserum you have," Sirius answered brusquely.

The man promptly took a small bottle of the clear substance from the shelf behind him and placed it on the counter. "Fifty-four galleons," he said with a nasty smirk.

Sirius winced at the extravagant price, but placed the coins on the counter and took the bottle. It was the only place that he could find Veritiserum. The Ministry strictly controlled both the potion and the ingredients so that no one could purchase either without the proper authorization, and the only criminals with the knowledge to surpass the rules in such a manner could be found here. The only person Sirius knew who was able to brew the stuff was Snape, and he wouldn't do so at Sirius' request. If it was for the good of the Order, he could be forced, but Sirius was aware that in order for his plan to succeed, Grace, who was now a member of the Order, could not know of the scheme.

After making his way outside, Sirius stopped in a secluded corner and drew his wand. He had once learned a spell that allowed one to test a drink or potion for poison. Sirius said the incantation, and a sphere of golden sparks erupted from the bottle to hover in the air for a mere second before disappearing. Sirius was relieved to find that even if the Veritiserum didn't cause the drinker to tell the truth, no one would be poisoned on his accord.

Because there were wards to prevent Apparition in the part of the underground that Sirius was now in, he turned to walk back to the spot that he had Apparated to earlier. He had taken only a few steps when he was slammed against a wall by a jet of purple light.

Sirius was disoriented, and he felt extremely sore. Somewhere deep within his subconscious, his mind knew that he had to stand, defend himself, and leave as soon as he could possibly manage. However, it took him a moment to realize this fact in his current dazed state, and by the time he had once again drawn his wand, an enormous fist had delivered a punch to the side of his face.

He waited for a second, allowing the attackers to think that he was another one of the drunks that frequented the area, too incapacitated to retaliate or to simply stand from the filthy concrete.

In the time it took for the man who had hit Sirius to turn and say something to his accomplice, Sirius had used a stunning spell on the nearest of the two. Fortunately, as soon as his friend fell to the ground with a sickening noise upon impact, the second of the attackers turned and fled.

Sirius stood, leaning against the crumbling walls of the neighboring buildings for support. The walk back to the end of the street took more time than was prudent, but Sirius could move no faster. With every step he took, his sore body screamed in protest, and his vision swam. Small spots of color seemed to float in front of his eyes, and Sirius was certain that he could not retain consciousness for much longer. He just hoped that he could make it back to la Solar Luna before passing out.

Thanks for reading. Please review!

**_JTBJAB:_** I just couldn't resist writing that scene. It was so much fun. There will be plenty more twists in the plot, so keep reading. Thanks for reviewing.

**_EnchantingFreak:_** Yeah, have to love Sirius' logic. Lol. Thanks for the review.

**_moonyNZ: _**Sirius really is great. Definitely one of my main reasons for writing the story. It was good to hear from you again.

**_Autumn92685039:_** Thanks for continuing to read and review.

**_Raven 176: _**Thanks for another review. This was the first time I had tried to write such an emotional, dramatic chapter, so I'm glad that you thought it was good. I'm not promising to reveal who the traitor is anytime soon, but there will definitely be more mystery and suspense just because it's so much fun for me. It's always great to hear from you, so let me know what you think of the new chapter.

**_Rane2920072:_** It's awesome that I've managed to get people guessing at who the traitor is. In the next few chapters, there will be more regarding the traitor, but there's no way I'm ready to spill the secret yet. I'm really sorry about the wait, but I've had a lot of school work and final exams, but now I'm out of school for the summer, which means that I'll have more time to write. I don't ever plan to abandon the story, though. Thanks so much for your reviews. They really made me want to write more and get the latest chapter posted. Hope you like it.

**_BiggerstaffStalker:_** Thanks for reviewing. I hope to hear from you again.

**_Elbereth Gilthoniel: _**I'm glad that you like the story. Let me know what you think of the new chapter. Thank you for taking the time to leave a review.

**_Helkardowen:_** Thank you for reviewing. HG/SB is great. It's just so interesting to read and to write because they work so well together. I hope you'll keep reading and reviewing.

**_future movie maker: _**I was just finishing this chapter when I got your review. I'm happy to hear that you like the fanfic. Thanks for reviewing.


	9. Feelings

A/N: All HP characters, locales, and objects belong to JK Rowling. I am not making any money for writing this story. I, Queen of Alexandria, am writing this fan fiction for fun only.

Unspeakable Chapter 9: Feelings 

Sirius took a deep breath and tried to steady himself. Losing consciousness here would be one of the worst things that could happen to him at the moment. _Just a few more steps…almost there._

Sirius stumbled once but regained some semblance of balance before slumping against a wall at the end of the alleyway. He was now past the anti-Apparition wards. He closed his eyes and focused for a moment, concentrating on arriving at la Solar Luna. It was more difficult than usual, but Sirius was able to Disapparate and then Apparate into an upstairs corridor of the manor.

He was relieved to find that there was no one else in the hallway. It just wouldn't do if someone saw him in his present state. Too many awkward questions would be asked, and Sirius wasn't feeling up to the task of creating the believable lies that suspicious situations typically required.

He made his way slowly down the hallway, wishing fervently that he could slip through unnoticed. After trying several doors that led to various unoccupied rooms of the house, Sirius found what the Order had just converted into a storeroom.

At every Order base, there was one location where all of the medical supplies and potions were kept. This particular place looked as though it had once been a kitchen, as many cabinets and tables filled the room.

Sirius opened one of the cabinets on his right and found the healing potions. Frowning for a moment at the rows of neatly labeled bottles, he tried to remember which one was used to eliminate dizziness and clear the drinker's head. _I was always abysmal with those bloody potions. Which one was it again? _

In hopes of finding the correct substance, he began randomly reading labels, as the room continued to spin. _Ah, here it is, the Claresco potion. At least I think that's the right one._

Sirius hesitated for only a second before grabbing the small bottle and downing its contents. He made a face. The stuff tasted awful, but it began to work quickly. The spots of color that drifted in front of Sirius' eyes vanished, and the room ceased to whirl.

He could feel bruises forming on his back from his collision with the brick wall, and a gash on his upper arm was bleeding profusely. Looking in a small mirror that hung on the wall, he also noticed a bruise above his left eye. Now that he was once again alert, Sirius resolved to find something to heal or at the very least, hide his various injuries.

Upon her return, Hermione immediately traversed the corridors of la Solar Luna to her mother's room. The door was still slightly ajar, and she peeked in. Her mother was sitting propped against the pillows, reading a novel from the library.

"Mum!" Hermione cried, hurrying across the room to hug her mother.

Mrs. Granger looked up at the sound of Hermione's voice and cast her book onto the bedside table. She smiled as she embraced her daughter.

"How are you feeling?" Hermione asked.

"Much better than before. In fact, I'm hoping to explore the house a bit tomorrow."

"Mum, I'm so sorry. None of this should have ever happened. If I had known…" Hermione was overcome by guilt when she saw her mother like this. Her life had been interrupted by a struggle that she had no part in.

"Hermione, there was no way you could have known. You shouldn't blame yourself. It wasn't your fault. In the middle of a war, unpleasant things happen, but you have done nothing that you should be ashamed of. I'm very proud of you."

Hermione had never believed that her mother would blame her for the attack, but she had felt that it had happened because of her. Her mother's words calmed her, though. Her parents had always been able to reassure her, to make her believe that everything would be okay. It was soothing to be near family again.

"How have you been, Hermione?" Mrs. Granger asked, curious to hear the latest details of her daughter's life.

Hermione then began to talk. She left out the parts of her story that included Order business and the situation at the Department, but she told her mother about her new job, Grace, Sirius, and many other aspects of her life. Hermione was surprised to find that it felt good to voice her thoughts on the chaotic happenings to someone, and Mrs. Granger was happy to hear that her daughter was finding her way back to the better life that she had left behind years ago.

Finally, she recounted her visit to Mar Azul. Mrs. Granger was eager to visit the town after the description of its beauty she had been given and decided to make the most of her time in Spain once she had fully recovered.

"I bought several pictures of the town and the sea," Hermione said, taking the aforementioned items from her pocket and using magic to return them to their original size.

She paused before adding, "I bought a dress, too. I really don't know what came over me, but it was amazing. I didn't even have an occasion to wear it, but then, I was talking to Bill Weasley, and he told me about the fiestas in the village plaza. I think I might go tomorrow night. The Spanish culture really is fascinating."

"A dress. Hermione, you really must try it on," Mrs. Granger said with a smile. After all, she was curious about a dress that could attract even Hermione's attention in such a manner.

"Be right back," Hermione grumbled, but it only took about a second for a smile that matched her mother's to appear on her face. She went back to her room, lifted the shrinking spell from the dress, and tried it on.

As she stood in front of her mirror, Hermione couldn't help noticing how different she looked. Hardly anyone ever saw her so dressed up, so when she did make the effort, people were surprised. With a slight laugh, Hermione remembered the Yule Ball in her fourth year. Shocking people really was amusing at times.

While she studied her reflection, an odd thought entered her mind. _What will Sirius say when he sees me?_ For reasons she couldn't quite figure out, Hermione hoped he would like the way she looked in the dress.

Feeling that it was strange of her to suddenly wonder what Sirius thought about her appearance, she pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind. She could make sense of that later.

Hermione walked back down the hallway to her mother's room, thinking that her cane was dreadfully out of place in her current ensemble. However, when Mrs. Granger saw her, she was astounded. "The dress is very pretty. Are you sure you aren't dressing up for someone in particular? The last time you made this much of an effort you were dating that awful Bryson boy from the Auror Division."

"Mum, who could I possibly be trying to impress now?" Hermione said incredulously.

Before Mrs. Granger could say anything further, a series of loud crashes sounded from upstairs. It sounded as though someone was smashing glass in one of the rooms above them. "I'm going to go make sure everything is okay. I'll be back," Hermione said as she walked out into the hallway.

After ascending the stairs, she was in the corridor that the commotion had come from. It really wasn't hard to tell which room to go to, as she could hear Sirius cursing from the other end of the hall.

Hermione entered the storeroom to find Sirius standing in front of an open cabinet with broken bottles of healing potions littering the floor around him. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and she could see the bruises on his back and the gash on his arm. Hermione also noticed yet another bruise above his eye. _What in the world could he have been doing?_

She stood in the doorway, staring at Sirius, momentarily transfixed. He was looking back at her with a strange, startled expression on his face. Upon realizing that she had been staring, Hermione averted her gaze and stepped forward into the room. _He must think I look weird. It's not like I dress this way every day._

Sirius had been taken by surprise when Hermione arrived. He had hoped that the awful crashing noises would go unnoticed in such a large house, but his hopes were soon dashed. He had tried to think of a plausible excuse for what he had been doing, but Sirius found that Hermione distracted him. She was wearing a dress and staring at him in shock, and all he could do was simply stare back.

When she began to walk toward him, it dawned on Sirius that he was standing amid broken glass and spilled potions. She had already taken out her wand and repaired several of them when he started to help clean up the mess.

Once the fragments of glass had been removed from the floor, Hermione came to stand closer to Sirius, who had taken a towel from the counter to wipe away the blood that was running down his arm.

"What happened to you?" she asked, as she reached for a bottle of dark green liquid from the cabinet.

Sirius watched as Hermione poured some of the stuff onto a cloth, trying to think of something to tell her. "I was…uh…mugged while I was in Barcelona. I thought I would go look at the town, and…things didn't go as I had planned." Sirius knew the excuse was lame, and he was certain that Hermione doubted the story, but thankfully, she didn't question him.

Hermione knew that there was something that Sirius was keeping from her, but there was time for that later. Right now, she had to take care of the many cuts and bruises that he had obtained because he obviously couldn't tell one healing potion from another.

Holding his arm with one hand, she pressed the cloth soaked in the dark green potion onto the scratch. Sirius winced in pain; the stuff stung like fire. Almost instantly, the gash started to fade. It became gradually lighter until it was just a scar, and then it disappeared altogether. The stinging stopped, and all Sirius felt was Hermione's hand on his arm. He had no idea why the situation seemed so awkward, but it was strangely different and yet nice to be so near her.

Next, Hermione reached for a bottle of light blue potion. "This won't hurt so much," she said as she took the stopper from the bottle. Hermione attributed the odd, fast beating of her heart to her worry for an injured friend, as she deftly applied the substance to the ugly, purple bruises, her fingers brushing across Sirius' back as she worked.

Once she had finished, she moved to stand in front of Sirius. Pushing several strands of jet-black hair from the bruise above his eye, Hermione began to apply more healing potion.

Sirius flinched and pulled away almost as soon as she touched the injury, but Hermione persisted. "Hold still," she admonished quietly, as the bruise faded and then vanished.

The two were now standing face to face, and Hermione reluctantly moved her hand. "Better now?" she asked, almost in a whisper.

"Yeah," Sirius answered, likewise at a loss for words.

Hermione was aware of how closely they were standing and was torn between wanting to stay like that for a while longer and the urge to run back to her room.

Suddenly, Grace's yell of "Hermione! Sirius! Remus is here to see you!" caused them to break apart. Hermione walked into the corridor, and after putting on a shirt, Sirius followed.

They made their way down half of the hallway in silence, but as they started to descend to stairs, Sirius spoke. "What's the dress for, Hermione?"

She excitedly told him of her plans for the next evening. "…It just sounded like so much fun that I decided to go."

"So, who's the lucky guy you're going with?" he asked. He had never seen anyone dressed so just to party alone.

"Well, I was hoping it would be you," Hermione said, smiling and laughing slightly.

Hermione mentally berated herself. _I sounded so stupid. I shouldn't have said anything. I really must learn to keep my thoughts to myself._

Sirius was surprised but pleased at her answer. "Anything for you," he said with a grin, as they arrived in the entrance hall.

Grace was just excusing herself from the group with the intention of working on a report for the Department when they reached Remus.

"Is something the matter?" Hermione asked as she looked at him. The expression on Remus' face was tense, as though he was dreading something, and he had one hand pressed to his temple, seemingly trying to push certain thoughts from his mind.

"The Order had several things to discuss with you, Hermione, so I brought the messages for them. I wanted to see both of you before I left."

"You're leaving? Did that teaching job in Ireland that you were telling me about finally come through?" Sirius asked.

"I'll be teaching, but it won't be in Ireland," Remus said, sighing wearily. "I'm going back to Hogwarts as Defense professor."

"Wouldn't they have contacted you sooner? Classes have been in session for over two months now." Hermione pointed out.

"Do you remember Hector Octavian? He taught Defense and worked with the Order."

"Yes," she answered, wondering what the man could have to do with whatever was bothering Remus. Sirius nodded, and Remus continued the story.

"Last night, the Order sent several people to search your mother's old house. Only the Order, a few trusted Aurors, and Harris knew about the attack. Somehow, Kingsley kept the news away from the Ministry and out of the newspapers. Hector had been missing since the night of the two missions, and his body was finally found in the forest behind the house. Dumbledore owled me this morning to ask me to teach. I'll be leaving later today."

Hermione was shocked speechless. _This just doesn't end. Their fight is with me, but everyone else is getting hurt. How am I supposed to stop this?_

"Because of this latest discovery, the Order had been in a bit of an upheaval. No one feels at all safe, and they can't figure out the enemy's motives this time. I was also told to give you something, but I want you to know that if you refuse, I will simply take them back. I, along with several others, thought that no one had the right to ask such a thing."

Remus took a thin package wrapped in brown paper from the table beside him. "As you know, the Auror Division takes photos of every crime scene. There have been no leads as to the attack, and some Order members believe that it would be helpful if you…" he left the sentence unfinished, looking uncomfortable. After taking a steadying breath, Remus completed his explanation, "…looked through the photos."

Hermione felt as though someone had knocked the wind out of her, as she reached out with a trembling hand to take the package.

"Who's idea was this, Remus?" Sirius demanded, his face steadily darkening with anger.

"Snape's," Remus said, resignedly. He had anticipated Sirius reaction. His friend had always had a nasty temper when angered, and his wrath was rarely worse than when he was fighting with Snape.

"He'll have me to answer to for this," Sirius said, as he moved to snatch the dreaded package from Hermione.

"No, he was right, Sirius. This is something I have to do, even if I don't like it."

"Are you sure?" Remus questioned.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Hermione said, although she didn't sound very convincing.

"I have to get back to the Order, but I'll owl you as soon as I arrive at Hogwarts," Remus said.

"Take care, Moony," Sirius told his old friend.

"Goodbye, Remus," Hermione said, as he walked out to return to England.

"I'll be in my room. I should get this over with," she sighed, turning to leave.

Sirius watched as Hermione trudged up the staircase. He wished there was some way he could help her. He knew how she was feeling because he had been through many such ordeals during the first war. Sirius remembered a night twenty-seven years ago, when he had been questioned about Lily and James' deaths. He knew she would be hurting, and he wished that there was something he could do to take the pain away.

Once Hermione was in her room, she shut the door and sat down on her bed. With trembling fingers, she began to open the package. As the brown paper began to fall away, she saw several wizarding photos.

The first was of the house, the same old two-story, brick house that Hermione had grown up in. All of the windows had been shattered, and the right half of the house was crumbling into a misshapen pile of bricks. There were scorch marks from a fire covering the remnants of the home. The movement in the picture was ghastly. Hermione could see pieces of the house falling to the ground, as the stars twinkled eerily in the night sky.

Feeling shaken, she placed the picture on the bed next to her and looked at the next. It was a closer shot of the front porch. Hermione gasped as she saw dark, red blood merged with sparkling fragments of glass in the moonlight.

Quickly moving to the next photo, she swiped at her face to remove the silent tears that had begun to fall._ How many more can there possibly be? How many more of these damned pictures do I have to look at?_

Another picture was taken from a distance, showing the house, a stark silhouette against the woods that lay in the background.

The following few were of the rooms of the house. Hermione noted the marks on the walls, the furniture, and the floor. They had been made by errant dark curses. Many of the rooms had been burned, while others were only left in a broken state of disarray. It pained Hermione to see her childhood home like this.

Hermione almost choked when looked at the last picture. It was the body of Hector Octavian, lying amidst the trees of the small forest. He was bleeding from the chest and covered in burns. She wouldn't have recognized him, had it not been for the news she had received earlier from Remus. Trying not to vomit at the horrific sight, Hermione quickly turned the picture upside down.

In her days as an Auror, Hermione had seen many such things, some even more violent and bloody than what she had just viewed. She had seen those other happenings firsthand, as well, but nothing could make her so heartsick as the sight that had just been before her eyes.

In quite a few ways, the situation seemed familiar. It fit the pattern of several attacks she had witnessed in her career, but it reminded her most of the night she had received her injury, the night Orion Kent's house had been torn to the ground and he and his family tortured.

Hermione didn't even try to sleep until three, but even then, her mind wouldn't allow her to rest. Every time she closed her eyes, all she could see was the desecrated house, the blood mixed with broken glass, and the body lying in the forest.

There was something else bothering her, she realized. Something was wrong in the photos; they seemed to deviate from all the other incidents, but Hermione couldn't quite place the difference. The answer seemed to torment her. It lingered at the back of her mind, just out of reach.

Finally, a couple of hours later, Hermione drifted into a light sleep filled with terrible images. She dreamed that she was walking in the house and the yard, watching helplessly as the devastation took place. Memories of the night Sirius had "died" haunted her, and lastly, she dreamed of the night three years ago that had changed her life.

Hermione's mind, even in sleep, was trying to bring the evasive answer to light, but it merely remained an elusive shadow.

Thanks for reading another chapter. Please review!

**_Rane2920072: _**I still can't say anything about the spy, but the next few chapters will be full of mystery. I'm beginning to learn Spanish, so I don't know much yet. I thought it would be fun to include some of the language and culture in the story, though, and my beta reader has been a great help. I will be trying to update more often now that the plot had begun to move at a faster pace. I really appreciate all of the reviews you have left.

**_prin69: _**Thanks for taking time to review six chapters. I'm glad you liked my story, and I hope you'll enjoy upcoming chapters, as well.

**_The Gryffindor Drummer:_** I like the new pen name. Thank you for continuing to review.

**_RainynDawn: _**Wow, it was like you read my mind about Sirius, Hermione, and the dress. I'm glad you like Unspeakable. Thanks for reviewing. I've read about half of All My Yesterdays, and so far, it's very good.

**_Helkardowen: _**Thank you for the review. You will be able to find out more about the traitor soon, so keep reading. I also like the idea of Sirius helping Fred and George, so he might be making a few more suggestions throughout the story.

**_vixen519: _**Change of scenery is always interesting in a fan fiction, and it was very fun for me to write about Spain. The truth serum is significant in the story, and its purpose will be explained in the next chapter. It was great to hear from you again.

**_JTBJAB:_** Sirius had to return quickly for his scene with Hermione. lol. Thanks for reviewing again. I do plan to write more quickly because I have more time on my hands now, so the next chapter should be up soon.

**_acdecnerd: _**Thanks for the review. I hope you'll enjoy the rest of the story, too.


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